Still of the Night
by x.MyrtenasterRose.x
Summary: Elsa had never believed in the supernatural (or mythical creatures, for that matter). They were all silly made up stories, created years ago as a form of entertainment that simply got blown out of proportion. When a stray wolf pup and a mysterious redhead wiggle their way into Elsa's life (and heart), however, she'll figure out how wrong she's been all along. [Werewolf!AU]
1. Chapter I

**So! After posting that I had an idea for a Werewolf!Anna AU on Tumblr and receiving an enthused, positive response, here you all are! First chapter might be a bit boring, but we all got to start somewhere, right?**

 **Please enjoy!**

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.:Still of the Night:.

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 **Chapter I**

 _Never in a million years could Elsa have predicted how her life was about to change. It had started out in the realms of normal, but soon evolved into something else entirely; something akin to those silly teenaged stories about mythical creatures and some sad, puppy-love romance._

 _That was what Elsa thought initially, but when she found herself dragged into something deeper than she could ever have imagined, and this "silly teenaged thing" turned into something she came to care about immensely, she supposed she'd have to change her opinion on things._

 _And of course, to add to Elsa's displeasure and belief she had been unwillingly sucked into a book of some sort, it all started one stormy night…_

XxXxX

"Elsa! What's the hold up?!"

Elsa rolled her eyes as she exited the kitchen with her arm full of plated food.

"It's right here!" she hollered as she walked through the entryway and into the adjacent dining room. "Cut me some slack; we're short-staffed and you know it!"

"Well, I got five tables waiting on their food; tell the kitchen to hurry it up!"

"Why don't you tell them yourself…" Elsa bit out under her breath. Approaching her table, she put on her best—fake—smile. "Alrighty, who had the Chicken Parmesan?"

Sometimes she hated this job. She worked at a tiny Italian restaurant with a manager who seemed to have it out for her ever since she broke a wine glass on her first night. Luckily, it was only her manager she didn't like—and when one of the waiters didn't show up for work like tonight—but otherwise she couldn't really complain. Surprisingly, she made good money in tips each night, and all the restaurant's regulars adored her, giving her more tables than anyone. Of course, on nights like these, that sometimes came back to bite her in the ass. She had two tables just sat in her section she had yet to get to, as well as two other tables waiting on their entrées.

Damn Flynn for calling in sick. She'd have to call Rapunzel later to make sure he actually was ill, otherwise Elsa may give him reason not to show up tomorrow night either.

Huffing, Elsa swung her braid over to her other shoulder as she approached one of her new tables.

"Sorry to keep you waiting," she said in her most chipper voice. "My name is Elsa and I'll be your waitress tonight…"

Fortunately, the rush died down soon enough and the rest of the night passed in a steady flow; much easier to handle with just two waiters. By midnight, Elsa was throwing on her jacket and preparing to leave.

"Hey, Elsa, about earlier…" her manager, Gaston, said as he came up to her in the entryway. "You know I was just under a lot of stress, right? You do a great job. Better than that bumbling idiot Milo. So…" Arching an eyebrow, he leaned closer. "Can I buy you a drink? Down at that new bar by the river?"

Again, Elsa rolled her eyes. "Gaston, not only is you asking me out breaking work regulations, I'm sure, but how many times do I have to reject your offer and advances before you understand I'm not interested?"

"C'mon, babe," he crooned. "Just this once?"

Elsa pushed past him, disgusted. "Ask me again and I quit," she spat. "I'm not taking this shit from you anymore."

Without waiting for his reply, she walked out of the restaurant. Sure, having to quit or getting fired would suck since she loved her regulars and the fast pace of the environment—most of the time—but she seriously was fed up with Gaston. Of course, taking it up with the owner of the place wouldn't do much good either. Despite being a kind old man, he was pretty far gone in the mind, so Gaston basically ran the place. Elsa was pretty sure the man was Gaston's grandfather, which had to be the _only_ reason Gaston been put in charge in the first place. Surely it hadn't been his actual knowledge of how to run a restaurant or his way with people.

"One of these days maybe I'll just come out right there and say I'm lesbian," Elsa grumbled to herself as she walked the several blocks to her apartment, the cold rain not bothering her in the slightest. "One would think _that_ would shut him up."

Of course, knowing Gaston, that would probably just turn him on, and then he'd be begging Elsa to bring her girlfriend by so he could get off on watching them together. Elsa shivered, repulsed by the idea. This was why she didn't like many guys at all and none romantically; she just didn't understand them.

Busy brooding deep in her thoughts and with a low rumble of thunder, Elsa almost missed the soft whine as she crossed the railroad tracks. Stopping right after them, she spun around to listen.

"Hello?"

Another whine was emitted and Elsa began making her way to the few bushes lining the tracks. Stepping off the sidewalk, she walked parallel to the tracks. Pulling out her iPhone, she turned on the flashlight, shining it in the brush.

The light lit up underneath and inside the bushes, though it was hard to see through the now steady rainfall, and it was then Elsa spotted a flash of reddish-brown. Going back over the spot, she steadied the light as the color seemed to shuffle back further into the foliage, letting out another whimper as it did. Setting the phone down so the bush was still lit up, Elsa got onto her knees.

Obviously she had no idea what was even in the bush, but it was definitely an animal of some kind. Being an avid lover of anything with fur, Elsa was committed to not leaving it alone this cold, wet night, especially if it was hurt—which its cries seemed to indicate it was.

Now laying on her stomach, Elsa moved a branch of the bush aside, revealing to her two bright teal eyes staring back at her. Those eyes widened as they locked on Elsa's and a yelp sounded as the eyes moved further back into the brush.

"Hey, hey," Elsa cooed softly, pulling back another branch. "It's okay, I won't hurt you."

The mass of fur had now retreated as far back as it could go, its body pressed against the metal base of the railroad gate.

"Are you hurt?" Elsa asked, inching her hand out towards the animal. A soft growl was her response, but the way the eyes were closely examining her seemed more curious than threatened. "I can fix you up."

Okay, so she knew the animal couldn't understand her, but Elsa really did find she had a different personality with animals than she did people. She was compassionate and loving towards animals, while distant and quiet towards humans—except when she couldn't be, like at work. She attributed her deep love for animals to the fact that growing up, all she had was a fish, and she always longed for something more. Her mom being allergic to cats, and her dad to dogs, as well as her mother not being too keen on anything in the rodent family—rabbits included—Elsa was really just left with either fish or anything amphibious or reptilian for companionship.

Her body was now almost halfway in the bush, her uniform black shirt and pants soaked through with rain and mud, as she strained to gain the trust of the animal huddled within. Pulling more branches away, Elsa could begin to make out its species. Two tall pointed ears were presented to her, along with a brown nose and one canine tooth showing from its upper lip. Following the length of its red-brown body, Elsa distinguished four paws and a thick tail wrapped around the animal as a form of protection.

"Are you a dog?" she asked the animal, still using a soft voice. "You don't have a collar on, but you look like maybe a shepherd or large terrier of some sort." The teal eyes blinked at her and Elsa smiled. "Can you come out so I can see you?"

Elsa stretched a hand out towards it, letting the animal sniff it to familiarize itself with her. Tentatively, a small pink tongue darted out and licked a finger before it pushed its head into Elsa's hand. Laughing, Elsa began to softly scratch its head, ecstatic that it seemed to trust her.

"I'm going to pull you out now, okay?"

Gently, her hand moved from the creature's head to its body, lifting it up slightly before pulling it from the bush. Eventually, with only a little bit of difficultly after Elsa realized the animal was heavier and larger than it had made itself seem, she released it from the tangled greenery. Free from any obstructions, Elsa noted that it didn't really look like a dog at all now—or any breed she knew of—but more like a wolf. It was smaller than full grown, but larger than a cub, about the size of an Australian Cattle Dog or the like.

"You… You're not a dog at all, are you?"

The teal eyes only blinked at her again. Pushing her damp bangs back, Elsa knelt before it.

"Well, let's assess your injuries," she told it. "I can see you've hurt your paw, huh?"

It was true, for the pup had been keeping its front left paw in the air ever since being freed. From the light of her phone, Elsa could barely make out a tint of darker red in its fur. Moving the phone down across the pup, she also counted three other bleeding wounds: one near its right ear, one on its right side, and one of the left of its rump.

"You poor thing," Elsa muttered. "You were attacked, weren't you?" Looking down at it, she was met with the most adorable puppy-dog eyes—she now knew why the phrase was named such—as the wolf looked up at her with its ears flat against its head. "Well, don't worry," she told it. "Come home with me, and I'll fix you up."

Hesitating only momentarily, Elsa put both hands under the pup's belly and lifted it in her arms. It whined pathetically before snuggling into the light jacket Elsa wore.

"Don't worry, my place is only one more block," she said. "I know you have all that fur, but it's soaked and it's still pretty chilly out here, don't you think?"

Elsa's chin received a nudge in response, causing her to chuckle.

Upon reaching her apartment, Elsa discarded the wolf pup on the couch before dashing to the bathroom and coming back with a roll of medical tape, bandages, and a washcloth. Turning on the overhead light, Elsa was finally able to get a better look at the creature she had brought into her home.

It was definitely a wolf, now that she looked at it properly. Its features were more hardened than any dog's. Its fur—while partly red from blood—was a rich auburn with a few highlights of an even brighter shade of red. Its muzzle was decorated with a smattering of lighter, almost blonde dots which looked like freckles, causing Elsa to smile amusedly. While most of its fur was matted with blood and dirt, two identical tufts stuck out at each side of its head underneath its ears, almost looking like an attempt at human twin-pony tails.

Its most striking feature, and what threw Elsa for a loop, were its eyes. A sharp, deep teal, they didn't look like any eyes she had ever seen before on an animal. Even with blue-eyed Huskies, their eyes were never this round, this…human-like. Yet, despite their unique color, a glimmer of yellow was present as well.

The pup cocked its head after a minute of Elsa observing it, its left paw still hovering in the air. Elsa saw this and giggled.

"Sorry, I know I'm supposed to be helping you, but you're just so beautiful," she told it. "I've never seen a canine colored this way."

Elsa wasn't sure, but she could have sworn the pup quirked a smile at her compliment. Casting it aside with her long night of work, she ignored it and sat down in front of the couch, facing the pup.

"Now, none of this is going to hurt too much, okay?"

The pup just stared at her with its wavering teal eyes and Elsa shivered inwardly at the gaze. It was intense; almost like the pup was looking into her very soul.

"O-Okay," she stuttered, looking away from the animal and to the supplies beside her. The pup blinked when Elsa broke its gaze and an innocent look took over. "So…"

In little under half an hour, Elsa had cared for the pup's wounds as best she could. The blood had been cleaned up, the cuts treated, and its paw wrapped in tape. The mutt was now wandering around Elsa's apartment, investigating each and every thing available to it, nose pressed flush against anything. Elsa watched it with a small smile for a while before her empty stomach alerted her it was way past dinner time.

Stepping into the kitchen, Elsa left the pup to its own devices. Since it was so late, Elsa didn't feel like making anything so she just poured herself a bowl of cereal. The sound of the cereal hitting the dish sent the pup skidding into the kitchen, staring up at Elsa with wide eyes, its tail wagging slowly for the first time that night.

"What, you're hungry too?" she asked it with a grin.

The pup licked its lips.

Rolling her eyes, Elsa tossed it a piece of cereal which it caught easily in its mouth. Teal eyes blinked at Elsa once more. She rolled her eyes again and reached for another bowl.

"Okay, so apparently wolves like cereal," she muttered to herself as she poured another—smaller—bowl. Setting it down before the mutt, it blinked at her once more before diving in, sending pieces of cereal flying each and every way. "Messy eater," Elsa grumbled, yet couldn't hide her giggle.

Almost like it got offended, the pup lowered its ears as it pulled back from the bowl. Looking to Elsa, it then began to pick up the stray bits of cereal on the floor before returning to what was left in the dish at a much slower pace.

"I'm impressed."

The pup's ears became upright and its tail wagged once more.

When she and the pup were done with their cereal, Elsa retired to her room, the mutt right on her heels. Laying out several blankets in a corner by her bed, Elsa threw a throw pillow down too as a second thought.

"There," she huffed, looking to the pup. "You can sleep here for the night. I'll figure out what to do with you tomorrow."

The pup walked over to the mass of blankets and lay down obediently before it began licking the bandage on its paw. Another smile flashed across Elsa's face as she turned to go to the bathroom to change and get ready for bed, unknowingly with the pup's eyes trained diligently on her the entire time.

Brushing her teeth, Elsa took a moment to think about the night's events. She had brought a _wolf_ into her home. Granted, it wasn't full grown, but it wasn't a cub either and could still potentially be dangerous and harm her. But then again, if it was going to, wouldn't it have done so already? Aside from its one growl back in the bushes, it hadn't acted aggressive towards Elsa at all. And she had a feeling that growl was only done in hopes to scare her away, not threaten to hurt her.

Still, while a wolf in her house may be slightly less awkward than inviting a random stranger home for the night, something still had to be done. Elsa wasn't even aware wolves were common where she lived, so she had no idea where it could have come from. Not only that, but wolves weren't your typical pet. It's not like you could walk into any pet store and buy wolf food right off the shelf.

 _Wait, why am I even thinking of buying it food?_ Elsa thought as she let her hair out of its braid. _It's not like I'm going to keep the thing. I'll just take it to Animal Services tomorrow; they'll know what to do with it._

Exiting the bathroom, Elsa looked to the corner to find the pup sleeping peacefully, its tail curled back around its body like in the bushes. Smiling softly, Elsa climbed into her bed and turned out the lamp on her nightstand. Rolling over, she closed her eyes.

Half an hour later, on the verge of sleep, Elsa felt the bed shift with added weight before a warm, furry body pressed against hers, the calming breathing of the pup next to her luring her to sleep. Elsa grinned.


	2. Chapter II

**Pretty fast update, huh? Was hoping to do so because now I can devote next week to Sucker Punch. It's a pretty big chapter next and I want to make it the best it can be so it deserves my full attention. For any of you not reading it, you're missing out! ;)**

 **Anyway, sheesh, guys! Over 100 follows for ONE chapter! That put the 70 for Sucker Punch's prologue to shame! I'm truly humbled, and hope this chapter turned out just as good.**

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 **Chapter II**

Elsa considered herself lucky that she was the kind of person who woke up pretty fast and coherent in the morning. Otherwise, she's pretty sure she would have screamed when a tentative tongue against her cheek lifted her from her dreams. Opening bleary eyes, she was met with those which had invaded her dreams all night. Teal ones blinked back, a light accompanying them as they noticed Elsa now awake, and a soft yip was soon followed by another lick.

"Good morning to you too," Elsa greeted, reaching a hand from beneath her pillow to scratch the wolf behind its ears. "You slept up here all night with me, huh?" Grinning, she peered over the bed to see the blankets and pillows she had laid out the night before near untouched. "Didn't like your own setup?"

The pup whined and nudged Elsa's hand, begging for more pets. Elsa chuckled and acquiesced, and the pair spent far more time than necessary in the sheets before actually rousing from bed that morning. Unfortunately, Elsa had the lunch shift at work today, so she regrettably had to head out soon and knew she'd have to leave the pup behind.

As Elsa went into the bathroom to change, the wolf followed her, nudging the door open and poking its head in. Elsa looked down at it while pulling her hair back and raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

The mutt licked its lips and Elsa huffed, though smiled as well.

"Hungry again?"

A blink.

"Cereal okay again?"

The pup wagged its tail enthusiastically, even making a point to turn in a circle causing Elsa to laugh once more.

"Okay, hang on," she told it, shooing it out of the bathroom so she could continue getting ready.

Once dressed, she found it waiting for it in her kitchen. It had somehow gotten hold of a bowl, and was now sitting patiently in the middle of the kitchen with the dish in its mouth, eyes staring Elsa down, and tail swishing lazily behind it.

"Wow," she mumbled. "Guess I must have left that out last night."

She missed the sly glimmer in the pup's eyes as she reached for the cereal. Pouring them both another bowl, Elsa jumped up to sit on her kitchen counter so she could face the wolf before her, eating its cereal much more carefully than it had last night.

"So, I have to go into work soon," she began telling it, despite knowing it had no idea what she was saying. "Will you be good if I leave you alone here? I don't have any…pet toys, but a nice nap would be fine, right? It'll let your wounds heal more."

The pup looked up at her briefly before nudging its bowl towards her. Elsa rolled her eyes.

"You're going to eat all my cereal before I know it…"

She poured it another bowl, and the wolf snuck in another grateful lick while she was kneeling on the floor.

"You're much more affectionate today, aren't you?" she asked it while wiping the slobber from her cheek.

The pup made a noise between a groan and a bark before it went back to eating. Elsa had no idea what to make of the sound, of course, and just smiled. She contemplated what to do with the animal again. It would definitely be on her mind her entire time at work today—having a wolf waiting for her back home and doing who knows what while she was away. Maybe she'd call Rapunzel when she got home. She was supposed to call her last night to inquire about Flynn, but… Well, obviously she didn't for circumstantial reasons.

The pup whined as Elsa shut it in her room before leaving for work, apologizing profusely to it the entire time.

"I'm sorry, buddy, but I have to go to work and you can't come," she said to the door, smiling somberly at the pitiful whines that continued to come from its other side. "I'll be back soon."

The sound of scratching started and Elsa kicked the door lightly. "Don't mess up the door, you hear? You've been sweet so far, but I'm not above discipline!"

Of course, her definition of disciplining any animal meant glaring at it and telling it 'no' over and over in a stern voice. Remembering the "puppy dog eyes" the wolf gave her last night, however, Elsa knew there would most likely be no disciplining this pup.

As she turned to walk away and out the apartment, she forced herself to ignore the persisting cries and whimpers, holding her heart together by its seams until her apartment was locked and she was out of earshot from anything going on inside her flat. The mutt would probably continue to whine for bit, realize Elsa wasn't coming back, and then just give up and fall asleep on her bed. What else was it going to do? Climb out the window and follow her to work?

Of course, never in a million years would Elsa have guessed it really would accomplish such a task, just not…in the most conventional of ways.

XxXxX

"Thank you all for stopping by today!" Elsa waved as one of her lunch tables got up to leave. Collecting the check and tip from the table, Elsa glanced to the clock that hung above the bar. "Four more hours…" she mumbled.

The lunch shift wasn't usually too bad. It never got as crazy as it did last night, and a "lunch rush" was basically a myth. People came and went, but never were there more than four tables in the entire restaurant at a time. Elsa could really handle the entire place on her own, but for the sake of equal opportunity employment, Milo was also helping out today, covering the porch while Elsa had the entire inside to herself.

Of course, the best thing about working lunch was that Gaston was never around. Sighing in relief at this, Elsa put her head down on the hostess stand momentarily.

"Hey, Elsa?" Milo's voice caused her to raise her head as he walked inside from the porch. "There's a girl outside at table 7 asking for you."

"Me?" Elsa couldn't fathom who it could possibly be. Rapunzel would usually text her if she was going to stop by. "Is she a regular?"

Milo shook his head and shrugged. "I've never seen her around."

"Well, thanks Milo, I'll be out there in a bit."

Milo beamed at her and blushed before scurrying away. Elsa couldn't help but chuckle as he did so. It was little known secret that he had been crushing on Elsa ever since he started working here. Elsa didn't have the heart to tell him she just wasn't into guys. Plus, she liked flirting with him since she seemed to have no game when it actually came to instances that mattered.

"Hey, Milo?" she said as she walked into the server station to bring a glass of water out to this mysterious girl. "Is she by herself or waiting for someone?"

Again Milo shrugged. "By herself, I think," he said. "She seemed almost confused when I asked her if she wanted a table. I don't even know if she wants to eat, she just came up to me asking if you worked here."

"Huh," Elsa grunted. "Well, okay. Here goes nothing!"

Milo chuckled. "Good luck."

Opening the door to the patio from the server station, Elsa immediately spotted their newest guest. She was sitting in the far right corner up against the railing which overlooked the street. Elsa couldn't hide her grin as she observed the girl examining the menu like she'd never seen one before in her life, turning her head every which way as she read over it, a bewildered look on her face the entire time.

"I was told you were asking for me?" Elsa asked as she stopped at the table, placing a glass of water down in front of her.

Strikingly familiar teal eyes looked up at her and lit up.

"Elsa!" the girl exclaimed.

Elsa chewed her lip, nothing coming to her immediately as to how this girl knew who she was when Elsa was fairly certain she'd never seen the girl before in her life.

Although those _eyes_ …

"Do I…know you?" she asked hesitantly.

The girl's expression deflated suddenly and she looked nervous.

"Uh, well, I guess not," she mumbled. "Um, but I'm…new to town and heard about you from a friend. Yeah! He told me to check out this place you work at!"

"And who's your friend?"

"Um…" the girl fiddled with her hands. "Well, you…probably wouldn't know him. He went to high school with you, but was that kid no one ever talked to 'cause…you know…he's kinda weird?"

Elsa blinked. Well, that was vague. She was hoping for a name. And why did the girl's explanation end with a question? Trying to think of who this "weird kid she went to high school with" could be, she more closely examined the girl before her.

Aside from her eyes, her most noticeable feature was her bright red hair which was pulled back into twin braids. As with the eyes, a familiar dusting of freckles were spread across her cheeks—which were noticeably pink under Elsa's close scrutiny—and Elsa could barely keep her eyes off white teeth chewing on soft-looking pink lips. The girl was certainly cute, although the way she was dressed was doing nothing to flatter her.

The flannel button-up she donned looked like it had seen better days, with its ratty look and ruffled appearance. One end of the collar almost seemed like it had been chewed on, and there was a hole down at the bottom where it met her shorts. Speaking of the shorts, they were jean and had holes in them as well that definitely hadn't been manufactured that way, what with the random placing of them. She only wore one sock, and her sneakers seemed to be falling apart. Elsa briefly wondered if she was homeless.

"Uh… Am I dressed too, uh, casual for this place?" her voice reminded Elsa she was staring.

"No!" Elsa cried quickly, shaking her head and blushing. Dressed weird or not, the girl was still cute, and Elsa felt a weird sort of pull towards her, despite her knowing Elsa being strange. "I just…got lost in thought. Um, your friend… Was his name Remy?"

"Uh, yeah! Remy!" she near-shouted before letting out a nervous laugh. "That was it."

Elsa couldn't help laughing at the girl's bizarre behavior, but she had to admit, it was refreshing.

"Well," she said with a smile, "what can I get you to eat?"

The girl immediately looked unsure once again as her eyes roved over the menu. "Um…" She looked up at Elsa. "What… What do you recommend?"

"Well, you can't go wrong with the meatball sub," Elsa told her with a wink.

The girl blushed instantly and said quickly, "Then I'll have that," before pushing the menu towards Elsa and looking at her shoes.

"You don't get out much, do you?" Elsa asked, grinning once more, enjoying the effect she seemed to have on this girl.

The redhead's head snapped up. "I do!" she cried. "I just… Um…"

Elsa's smiled softened when she realized she was upsetting the girl somewhat. Squatting before her, Elsa leaned down to meet the girl's eyes.

"Hey, I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to upset you. You just seem real familiar and, honestly, your personality is a breath of fresh air. You won't believe how 'normal' everyone is around here."

"So I'm weird like Remy?"

Elsa chuckled as she stood back up. "It's a good thing, trust me."

She left the girl sitting there with another blush and a grin that should have split her face open. Elsa walked back into the server station to find Milo had been spying on them using the mail slot to peer outside.

"Spying on us, were you?"

Milo immediately pulled away, his face a brilliant red. "So," he hoped to change the subject, "how is she?"

"A nutcase," Elsa replied with a chuckle as she rang in the girl's order. "And yet I feel like I know her from somewhere."

"Well, she knows you," Milo said. "Maybe you just forgot?"

"Maybe," Elsa muttered, though she knew there'd be no way to forget a girl like that.

"Did you get her name?"

Elsa had to hold herself back from banging her head into the computer. Of course she didn't; because she's not polite and awkward like that. No wonder she had no game when it came to getting girls.

"No," she bit out. "I'll make sure to do that when I bring her food out."

When Elsa turned to exit the server station, she saw Milo looking extremely anxious as he kept glancing from the door to the patio and to the ground.

"What is it, Milo?"

"Um… I couldn't help noticing when I sat her that…well she has a hole in her left sleeve and I saw…bandages. And then with the rest of her appearance, and her demeanor, you don't think… You don't think she ran away from home, do you?"

Honestly, Elsa thought, that could very well be true, although that still didn't explain why the girl had sought Elsa out. And the thing about 'Remy?' Elsa never went to high school with anyone named Remy, so clearly the girl made that up. Who was this girl? And how did she know Elsa?

"I'll see if I can talk to her about it," Elsa said. "I mean, she must have come to see me for a reason, right?"

Since the only tables in the restaurant at the moment were the girl and an elderly couple who had already eaten, the bell in the kitchen dinged, signaling the girl's meal was ready. Elsa and Milo exchanged a look before Elsa huffed dramatically and walked to the kitchen, Milo's soft chuckle following her out.

The girl looked over as Elsa exited the building and smiled. Elsa smiled back as she set the plate down before her.

"Your meatball sub," she presented. "In all its cheesy, meaty goodness."

"Um, you can't stay and talk, can you?" the girl asked. "Are you busy?"

Elsa glanced back to the front door. "Not really," she said. "I have one other table inside, but they're just sitting there talking. What did you want to talk about?"

"Um…" the girl looked down at her food and poked at her sub. "Well, I haven't…been completely honest with you about how I know you."

"I figured," Elsa huffed with a laugh. "I don't know any Remy."

The girl looked up at her. "Hey!" she cried indignantly. "That was mean!"

Elsa chuckled. "Well you seemed uneasy and I didn't want to scare you off, I guess," she said. Pulling the other chair at the table out, Elsa sat down across from her, her look becoming serious. "You're not in trouble, are you?"

"What?" the girl blinked at her.

"The other waiter noticed the cut on your wrist when he sat you, and frankly, you look like you haven't changed clothes in a while. Did you run away from home? Do you have a place to stay?"

The girl turned bright red again as she chewed her lip once more.

"Um… I do have a place to stay, actually," she mumbled. "But, I don't know for how much longer. But, I guess you could say I ran away. And the cut's nothing, really." Seeing Elsa's doubtful look, the girl giggled. "I swear, okay? I cut it on a thorny bush or something."

Elsa was still a bit skeptical, but let it go. "Well, if you're sure," she said. Watching as the girl took a bite of her sandwich, Elsa asked next, "So how do you _really_ know me?"

"Um…" the girl said again. "It's…kind of hard to explain," she started. "I…met you a long time ago? I didn't expect you to remember me; I'm kinda easy to forget."

"You?" Elsa grinned. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

The girl before her blushed once more and busied herself with her sandwich to hide her flustered state. Elsa just laughed and leaned back in her chair. For some reason, she still didn't believe the girl's story one hundred percent, but it was better than knowing her through a false person.

"Well, since you know my name, can I know yours?" Elsa asked after the girl had a chance to eat a bit, watching the bob of the girl's throat as she swallowed carefully.

"My name is Anna."

Elsa had hoped the name would spark some memory or other kind of recognition, but she was left with nothing. Still, she plastered on a smile and stood.

"Well, regardless of if we've met before or not, it's nice to meet you, Anna."

"Y-You too, Elsa."

They both turned to watch a group of four walk up to the patio before heading inside the restaurant and Elsa sighed. Turning back to Anna, she smiled sympathetically.

"Well, I need to attend to that, so I'll leave you to finish your lunch," she explained. Quickly pulling out a notepad, Elsa scribbled something onto it before placing it on the table by Anna. "That's… That's my phone number. I know you said you're not in trouble, but if you need something, let me know, okay? I'll…see you around?"

Anna smiled and nodded. "Thank you, Elsa," she said. "I'll see you later."

This time it was Elsa's turn to blush slightly at the admiration shining in those familiar teal orbs and as she walked up the stairs back to the front door, she looked over her shoulder and smiled.

"And your lunch is on me, so don't worry!"

She missed the melodic laughter in response and knowing glimmer of yellow as teal eyes flashed with mirth.

XxXxX

By four thirty, Elsa was opening the door to her apartment again.

 _My apartment—or bedroom, more like it—is going to look one of two ways,_ she thought grimly. _Everything could still be intact, but the other option is that wolf went berserk after I left and tore my bedroom apart in revenge._

Holding her breath, Elsa approached her bedroom door. Well, it was still closed, and not clawed through, so that had to be a good sign, right?

Opening the door slowly, Elsa breathed a great sigh of relief when everything was still in one piece.

Well, everything beside her bed, that is.

The comforter had been pulled off completely and was laying in a haphazard pile at the bed's foot while the sheets were rumpled and strewn every which way. The four pillows that usually sat against the headboard had now been dragged to the center and set up in such a way that they almost covered the lump lying underneath them. Upon taking one step into the room, teal eyes opened and an auburn head poked out from beneath the mass of pillows. When it noticed the blonde standing there, it barked and bounded over to her, knocking Elsa off her feet as the pup covered her with kisses.

"Okay, okay!" Elsa cried out in laughter, attempting to shield her face from the pup's tongue. "I get it; I was missed!"

The pup whined and barked, continuing to push itself against Elsa in a form of reassurance and comfort. Apparently becoming satisfied that Elsa had really come back, it jumped back onto her bed before plopping back down in the center of the pillows, pulling one back to cover half its face.

"Built a fort out of my bed while I was gone, I see."

The wolf barked in agreement.

Chuckling, Elsa joined it on the bed, reaching out to scratch behind its ears again.

"Well, you won't believe the kind of day I had…" she started, the pup making itself comfortable by placing its head in her lap.

Maybe she'd finally get around to calling Rapunzel tomorrow.


	3. Chapter III

**I am so sorry for the long delay! *hides under table* Anyone following me on Tumblr (x-sodenozangetsu-x) knows the story already but for those of you that don't, a quick recap: A week ago, I started a new job in an office. I was only there for two days before quitting because I had three panic attacks in the two days I worked there. I had never had such severe attacks before, and they really took a toll on me. So, I've left that place and am back at my old job working with dogs. Plus I got a raise! So I guess all is good and it was a learning experience, but I've basically been recuperating from the attacks and going back to my old job full time as well. But here's an update, despite the wait!**

 **And for those also reading Sucker Punch, I hope to have it up tomorrow night. Sunday night at the latest.**

* * *

 **Chapter III**

The next three days passed by in normal, routine fashion for Elsa.

Well, at least as normal as harboring a wolf in your apartment could be, that is.

Elsa had obviously never ended up calling Animal Services. Nor had she ever mentioned this out of the ordinary experience to her best friend, Rapunzel. She tried to rationalize her lack of better judgement by claiming that she was certain the wolf wasn't dangerous, as it had plenty of opportunities to harm Elsa since she had brought it home, yet the worst damage she had sustained from it was several kicks to her side in the middle of the night as the pup slept up against her. Besides, Elsa argued, it was still injured. While she had taken care of the open wounds and had removed the bandages from the pup, there were still scabs, and it still walked with a slight limp on its left side.

So, Elsa had broken down and had stopped at the pet store one day after work, purchasing a big bag of large breed dog food, as well as a large deer antler for it to chew on while she was at work. Wolves were basically big, wild dogs, right? It's not like she could afford to buy fresh cut bison or beef every day for it. Dog food and cereal—as the pup still jumped at the chance to eat any of the three cereal brands Elsa had—would have to suffice for now.

Besides, Elsa thought with a grin, it didn't seem to mind as it was currently busy eating its dinner of kibble sprinkled with Lucky Charms.

The wolf situation was taken care of for the moment, even though Elsa hadn't really thought about when she was to release it back into the wild—if ever, since the pup had grown incredibly fond of Elsa, following her everywhere she went in her flat. Still, at the very least, it wasn't going anywhere until Elsa was assured its limp was gone and it wasn't going to tear open its scabs.

The one thing that continued to linger on Elsa's mind and hadn't left her since three days earlier was the girl, Anna. Days later and she still hadn't called or texted Elsa. Nor had she seen neither hide nor hair of the redhead since.

"I just don't get it, buddy," Elsa mumbled as the pup joined her on the couch that night for their routine hour of Netflix before bed. "She sought me out for some reason; I thought I would have heard from her by now."

The mutt looked up at Elsa with forlorn eyes, emitting a soft whine as it pressed its head against Elsa's side. Elsa's hand responded automatically and began to scratch its ears.

"You don't think she got in some kind of trouble, do you?"

The pup pulled away and threw its head back, releasing another groaning sound before practically placing itself in Elsa's lap.

"You're so weird," Elsa chuckled as it rolled onto its back, its teal eyes shining up at her.

When Elsa just shook her head with another laugh and began watching her show, idly rubbing its stomach, the wolf huffed and looked towards the TV as well, its eyes showing frustration.

XxXxX

The next day, Elsa was back at work and working the lunch shift again. Having less than an hour left, she was busy writing the night's specials on the folded blackboard which sat on the sidewalk. Her back turned towards the street, Elsa could hear footsteps approaching her from behind. They stopped just behind her before a nervous voice piped up.

"Elsa?"

Immediately recognizing the voice, Elsa stood up and spun around. A smile reached her eyes upon noticing the head of fiery red hair which had plagued her mind the past three days.

"Anna," she greeted, doing her best to curb her enthusiasm and not seem as happy and relieved as she really was. After all, that was borderline obsessive in Elsa's opinion and she didn't want to come across as clingy.

"Hi," Anna replied, looking at the ground with a shy smile, scuffing her dirty shoe on the sidewalk between them.

Wait, were those the _same_ clothes she had been wearing the other day?

Deciding that wasn't the best approach to only their second conversation, Elsa led with something else.

"You never called."

A blush overtook Anna's face, her hands clenching into fists at her sides.

"I… I wanted to," she mumbled, still refusing to meet Elsa's eyes, "but I…I just…moved here so I…don't have a phone?"

And again with the answers which sounded like questions.

"Are you telling me or asking me?" Elsa shot back with a sly grin.

Finally looking up, the girl squeaked out, "T-Telling you!"

Rolling her eyes, Elsa put the chalk she had been using in its box before looking back at Anna.

"Any reason you're wearing the same clothes from the last time we met?"

Anna blushed again. "I, um…"

Sympathy flooding her eyes at the girl's stammer, Elsa hesitated only briefly before placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"Are you _sure_ you're not in any kind of trouble?" she repeated from their last meeting. "I don't want to force you tell me anything, but people don't usually wear the same clothing they did only a few days ago without washing it first unless there's a reason."

"I'm not in any trouble, E-Elsa, really," Anna, like last time, replied. "It's just…hard to explain. One day I hope I can tell you and have you understand, but…this isn't the time or place."

"Well, chances are I'll be here," Elsa quipped in hope to lighten the mood again.

That brought a smile to Anna's face, so Elsa called it a victory in her books. She was about to say something else when the grating voice of Gaston interrupted her.

"Elsa!" he called from the patio. "If the girl doesn't want to eat, get back to work!"

Elsa rolled her eyes again so only Anna could see and the girl laughed in response before Elsa spun to face her boss.

"I get off in five minutes, Gaston," she told him. "All my tables have been settled or given to Milo and Flynn, and your board's finished too. I'm off the clock."

"If you weren't so cute, I might tell you to watch your tone," Gaston grumbled as he turned around and went back inside.

"And if I didn't need this job, I'd cry harassment," Elsa mumbled.

"You…couldn't work somewhere else?" Anna inquired, following Elsa up on the patio as the blonde prepared to retreat inside and clock out.

"I could," Elsa replied with a shrug, setting the box of chalk in a bucket by the front door, "but I've applied several places and haven't heard back so… This is all I've got for now."

"You'll find something else," Anna told her with a smile.

Elsa smiled back before looking away. A light blush settled across her cheeks. "Um, I have to go inside real quick to clock out, but will you wait? I'd like… I mean…can I t-take you out to lunch?"

Anna's eyes lit up and she licked her lips. "Okay!" she yipped. "I'm starving!"

The ball that had been constricting in Elsa's stomach relaxed as she breathed a sigh of relief, a smile taking back over a look of anxiety.

"Great," she whispered. "Be right back."

Darting inside, she rushed to the server's station and immediately began entering her employee ID into the computer.

"In a rush, huh?" Flynn asked, munching on a breadstick in the corner. He grinned. "Got a date with that cute chick out there?"

"No!" Elsa snapped, although the brilliant red hue of her face told otherwise. "And stop slacking and get to your tables!"

"They're all eating, babe," Flynn replied smoothly. "And I'm hungry."

Huffing Elsa threw her apron at the brunet. "Just shut up, Flynn. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I'm rooting for you, Els!"

Had Flynn been anyone else, Elsa wouldn't tolerate the way he spoke to her—after all, he called her "babe" more often than he used her name—but since he was currently dating Rapunzel, she decided to let it slide for now. He really was a good person and great friend once you got past the suave exterior.

Exiting back to the patio, Elsa saw Anna standing where she left her, fiddling with her fingers and biting her lip.

"You okay?" she asked as she approached the redhead.

Anna jumped but passed it off with a laugh. "Yeah," she answered. "I just space out when I'm hungry."

Elsa laughed. "Well, then let's go remedy that, huh?"

As Anna jumped down the stairs to the sidewalk, however, and Elsa watched her flannel shirt move with her, she thought a slight detour was necessary.

"But first, let's stop at my place and get you some new clothes."

Anna immediately went rigid and spun back around. "No!" she all but shouted. "I'm fine, really!"

"Anna, your shirt _and_ pants have holes in them and have seen better days," Elsa said. "While I may not mind, I'm just trying to protect you from the criticism of others."

"But…"

"Come on, Anna, I don't mind you borrowing my clothes, really. I'm only a little taller than you; they'll fit."

"But I have money!" Anna cried. "Can't I… Can I just buy my own?"

Elsa gave her look that said _"really?"_ and Anna blushed under the scrutiny. Anna huffed and threw her hands in the air.

"Okay, so I don't have money…"

Elsa hid a grin as they resumed walking back to her place. "Look, if you have some… _aversion_ to coming up to my apartment, you can wait in the lobby, okay? I don't want to make you uncomfortable, but I want to help you and get you out of those clothes, and nothing you say is going to change my mind about that."

Anna's blushed deepened, unseen by Elsa as she followed behind. "Thanks, Elsa," she mumbled.

When they arrived at Elsa's apartment, Elsa left Anna down in the lobby while she ran upstairs to grab a change of clothes for Anna. As soon as Elsa got in the elevator, Anna made a mad dash out the lobby and around the side of the building.

"Hey, bud," Elsa greeted the wolf pup as she rushed into her bedroom, immediately flinging open her closet doors.

The pup came up to her while she was pulling down an old black and gray flannel and pair of skinny jeans. When Elsa threw the clothes onto the bed behind her, the pup jumped up on the bed and investigated the clothes, its eyes shining with gratitude.

"Crap, I wonder what size shoe she is?" Elsa grumbled as she looked over all her shoes.

Deciding that the shoes were probably the least important article that needed fixing, Elsa picked the change of clothes up off the bed and retreated out the door, barely sparing the wolf a second glance as she left.

"Be back soon!" she called.

Unknown to her, however, the wolf had disappeared from her bedroom the minute Elsa had shut the door.

When Elsa arrived back in the lobby, Anna was waiting for her by the restrooms.

"Here," Elsa panted, out of breath from her rush.

"You didn't have to be so quick, Elsa," Anna told her with a giggle. "I was fine waiting."

"Well, I don't play around when it comes to food and a girl tells me she's hungry."

"Chivalry at its finest," Anna quipped with a grin as she took the clothes from Elsa and walked into the bathroom.

XxXxX

An hour later, the two were halfway through with their lunch, enjoying the nice weather and eating down by the river. Elsa had driven them—of course, because if Anna didn't have a _phone_ , she certainly didn't have a car—and the blonde had laughed the entire ride as Anna examined every knob, button, and gadget in the car. It was like she had never been in a car before. When asked about her fascination, the redhead had simply replied she had never been in such a new car.

"…And so after that, I just decided sports weren't for me. Apparently if there's a ball involved, I'll ultimately end up breaking world records for most times tripping over it in a game. Even tennis."

Elsa found herself laughing rather loudly at Anna's countless stories of her misadventures in sports. The poor girl definitely wasn't gifted in athleticism and was, from her stories, the most awkward klutz out there. Of course, there were times it had its stroke of luck; like when she went bowling on one occasion and somehow ended up getting a strike on the lane _next_ to the one she was supposed to be using.

"I'll make sure I never ask you to play any kind of sport with me then," Elsa added at the end, picking at the few fries left on her plate.

"I can run though," Anna said. "I'm really fast and great at like track, and swimming's amazing too, but otherwise, sports just aren't for me."

Elsa shrugged. "Everyone has their calling."

A moment's silence passed over them and Anna looked to Elsa nervously. Feeling eyes on her, Elsa looked up from her meal to see Anna glancing at her.

"What?"

"A-About people have their own calling…" Anna started hesitantly. "Mine's in… And you c-can't laugh at this… Mine's mythological studies."

"What's wrong with that?" Elsa questioned.

"Like… I believe in a lot of it."

"What, like Bigfoot and the Loch Ness Monster?"

Anna giggled. "I'm talking more like werewolves and vampires, but yeah, those guys too."

Elsa blinked. "So, you think werewolves and vampires actually exist?"

This time it was Anna's turn to shrug. "Why wouldn't they?"

"I'm sorry, but ever since reading _Twilight_ , I hope like hell neither of the two exist," Elsa said with a laugh.

"What's _Twilight_?"

Elsa just stared at the girl across the table from her. Surely she was joking?

"You know… The books about sparkling vampires and warring werewolves?" Elsa prodded. "Gods, I don't even know, really; I couldn't get past the first chapter of the first book, nor could I ever stand any of the movies."

Anna just remained still in her seat, utterly lost. Elsa sighed and shook her head.

"Let's just leave it as you being lucky you've never had to endure its horrors," she muttered. "Although I still find it hard to believe you've _never_ heard of it. Despite my obvious detest, it's a very popular series."

Anna chuckled nervously. "Just…too invested in _different_ mythology books, I guess."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "I'd hardly categorize _Twilight_ as mythology, even though it deals with the same creatures. I may not believe in vampires, but I'm sure as hell that they don't _sparkle_."

"What about werewolves?" Anna asked.

"Do I think _they_ exist?"

The redhead nodded, looking at Elsa expectantly. "Like, don't think about what you've seen or read in the media."

"Isn't that all this is though?" Elsa asked. "Fiction?"

"Well, the stories had to have started from something, right?" Anna responded with her own question. When Elsa just looked away, she laughed. "You really think this kind of stuff is just made up?"

"I don't know," Elsa replied with a huff. "I never gave it much thought, I guess. I mean, I definitely don't believe anything in the books or movies are real. But, I guess I've never looked at it from any other standpoint."

The redhead nodded, then stuck her chest out proudly. "Well, _my_ favorite are werewolves," she said with a proud smile. "And I'm not talking about the bloodthirsty ones that change only with the full moon in the most gruesome of ways and take out entire villages. That's the glamorized, fictional version done for money."

"Okay," Elsa leaned forward with a grin, "so what are the _real_ werewolves like?"

Anna mirrored Elsa's grin and leaned back. "I don't think I want to tell you if you're going to treat it like I'm telling you Santa Claus exists."

"But that's basically what you're doing!" Elsa exclaimed with a small laugh. "I mean, what, you want me to believe there are wolves out there that can transform into humans on their own free will? That it's not a curse at all and just a way of life? Like any other human culture?"

Anna frowned. "W-What if it is?"

Elsa scoffed, picking up another fry. "Okay, for the sake of conversation, it is. What leads you to believe that werewolves are anything like this when popular opinion is that they're cursed creatures?"

Anna suddenly became nervous for some unknown reason. Looking down at her own plate, she too picked up a french fry and dipped it in ketchup before glancing back up at Elsa.

"You'd… You'd think it was silly," she mumbled. "You already don't believe; there's little I can say to convince you, I guess."

Elsa's features softened. Anna really believed in this stuff. She was trying to open up to Elsa about something she already felt somewhat self-conscious about, and here Elsa was laughing it up and throwing it back in her face.

"Anna, I'm sorry," she said. "I'm not being really nice about this, am I?"

Anna shook her head and smiled. "It's okay, Elsa; I don't blame you. With everything in movies and books, it's only natural you'd think what you've seen all your life. And I'm right there with you. If that was really all there was to it, I wouldn't believe any of it either."

"'All there was to it?'" Elsa repeated. "What am I missing?"

Anna shook her head again. "Nothing," she replied. "I'll… I'll tell you later."

Elsa frowned, her gut twisting as she realized she essentially just slammed a door in the girl's face by rejecting her beliefs. Damn her incompetency to relate to people.

"Okay," she mumbled. "But I'm…" she cleared her throat and nudged Anna's leg under the table, a new smile forming on her face. "But I'm holding you to that one too, you hear? Your clothes and werewolves; I want to hear the entire story soon!"

Anna grinned, her eyes glimmering with yellow for only a second when Elsa looked back to her now-finished meal.

"You will, Elsa."

XxXxX

"Guess what, buddy?" Elsa asked the wolf pup upon entering her bedroom later that evening. "That girl I was talking about showed up today! What a coincidence, right?"

The pup yipped in response, jumping up on the bed with Elsa where it stood over her, tongue lolling out its mouth happily.

"She sure is a weirdo though," Elsa chuckled to herself. When the pup flattened its ears and whined, Elsa looked up at it and laughed. "Not like that's a bad thing!" she exclaimed. "What, you don't like me talking bad about this girl you know nothing about?"

The wolf let out another groaning sound before it let its head drop to Elsa's chest.

"It _is_ weird though," Elsa mumbled though, scratching the pup's head as she stared up at her ceiling in thought. "I mean, I meet you—a freakin' _wolf_ in…well, _non_ -wolf territory—and then I meet this girl and you know what she starts talking about today? Werewolves!" Elsa met the pup's eyes who were studying Elsa as intensely as Elsa had been studying the ceiling. "And she believes in them! Apparently everything you see in movies, books, and stories isn't real, but…how can she be so sure, right? It's just like people trying to convince others they really saw a UFO or something."

The pup made a quiet rumbling in the back of its throat as it pressed its head under Elsa's chin. Elsa looked down at it and raised an eyebrow.

"Well, you haven't even howled at the moon or anything since you've been here, so you can't be a werewolf, right? I mean, regular wolves do that too, but…"

This time the wolf whined and licked Elsa's cheek.

"Okay, okay, I get it," Elsa mumbled as she pushed it off her so she could sit up. "Stop thinking about it so much. Still," she looked back at it, "you have to admit this is all weird, right?"

The wolf cocked its head at her. Elsa sighed and retreated out to the living room. When it followed her out there and back onto its seat next to her on the couch, Elsa reached to stroke its back.

"Just… Do me a favor and don't turn into a human on me, okay?"

When Elsa looked away to turn on her TV and PS4, the wolf pup's lip twitched—not dissimilar to a human grin—and its eyes glinted once more.


	4. Chapter IV

**Another two week delay… *sighs* I'm sorry, guys; real life's been a bitch lately. Adulting is hard. Let's just go ahead and assume all future updates will take** _ **at least**_ **two weeks. I hate to say that, but it really would be a miracle if they come sooner.**

 **Still plan on keeping this story shorter than ten chapters, so at least you all don't have** _ **so**_ **long to wait to get an ending. Sucker Punch on the other hand… *awkwardly shuffles away***

* * *

 **Chapter IV**

In all fairness, Elsa really should have been expecting this. Bringing a wild wolf—injured or not—into your home wasn't perhaps the best of ideas, despite having acted in the heat of the moment. And sure, for the first few days, everything was fine; the wolf was grateful—or, at least as grateful as a wolf could be—to have been provided shelter and taken care of, it never tried to eat her, and it even seemed to form some kind of bond with Elsa.

She really should have known this would eventually happen, yet it still came as a shock to her when she came home from work one night to find the wolf pup gone from her apartment.

Perhaps it wasn't the fact it left that was unexpected or shocking, but rather, it was the means of how it possibly got out. Obviously when Elsa had left for work that day, it hadn't darted out after her, as she would have noticed it and chased it down. And she was also ninety-five percent certain she had locked the door behind her. Even if she hadn't, were wolves really smart enough or able to open doors on their own? What about that whole 'no opposable thumb' thing? Elsa had even checked to see if any of the windows had been left open, but they were all shut. Plus she lived four stories up; surely even a sturdy animal like a wolf couldn't survive a four story drop, right?

Yet it was still nowhere to be found.

"Really?" Elsa called out to her vacant apartment. "You're just gonna leave like that?" Sitting down on the couch, she huffed. "How the hell did you even get out, anyway?"

Despite the bit of hurt she felt at just simply being abandoned with no warning, Elsa couldn't help but chastise herself for getting all up in arms about this. It was a _wolf_ ; a wild animal. It wasn't some dog she rescued from the pound, and aside from patching up the few scrapes the pup had come to her with, it didn't owe her anything. Not like a wolf could really _repay_ a human, but still…

Why was Elsa even getting so upset over this? Had she really thought the wolf would just continue to live with her forever? It was a _wild animal_ ; it wasn't to be confined to a small apartment the rest of its life. It probably just finally felt well enough to return to its pack. End of story.

Still, as Elsa sat on the counter that night eating a bowl of Lucky Charms, there was a noticeable change in the atmosphere. She kept expecting the pup to round the corner any minute and demand more cereal.

"Do I finally call Rapunzel about this?" Elsa mumbled to herself. "Now that she has no reason to worry? Or do I just let it slide and act like none of this even happened? I mean, in a few days I'll probably forget any of this was even a thing; or that it was even real." Elsa shrugged as she hopped off the counter.

As she was coming out of the bathroom later that night, all ready for bed, a knock at her door sounded. Freezing halfway to the bed, Elsa turned to look over her shoulder, the placement of her bedroom giving her a direct line of sight to her front door. Glancing to her clock, she saw it was almost midnight. Who in the world didn't know well enough to bug her at this hour?

"Hello?" Elsa called as she slowly inched from her bedroom, eyes trained on the door should it be blown off its hinges at any moment. "Who's there?"

Damn not having a peephole…

"Elsa?" a familiar voice rang out.

Not believing she heard correctly, Elsa shook her head and chose to remain silent, hoping the stranger would just give up and leave.

Another knock sounded, followed by, "Elsa, it's me, Anna."

Anna? So Elsa hadn't been going crazy.

But what in the world was the girl doing here so late? And how'd she even get Elsa's address?

Realizing the closed door and empty room weren't going to answer her questions, Elsa opened the door. There on the other side stood the redhead, a smile lighting her face at the sight of the blonde.

Elsa didn't know why she was surprised the girl was still in the same clothes Elsa had let her borrow days before.

"What in the world are you doing here?" she asked, blinking astounded at the redhead. "And how did you even know where I live?"

"I'll answer that in a bit," Anna responded, "but first… I'm here because I heard your 'pet' ran out on you?"

Had it not been such a late hour, perhaps Elsa would have been quicker to realize what was going on and not have been so…well, late on the upstart.

"How on earth did you _know_ that?" Elsa balked. "It hasn't even been gone for a full day yet, and I sure as hell didn't tell anybody!"

Anna grinned slyly and said, "I'll tell you if I can come in."

Sighing, Elsa acquiesced. "Do you even realize how late it is?"

Anna's grin fell momentarily as she looked to Elsa and studied her nightly attire. "Oh," she muttered. "I just figured you'd…stay up later than this, I guess. Being young and all?"

Elsa rolled her eyes before sitting on her couch. "Whatever; let's just get to the point of why you're here at midnight and knew about this wolf."

Anna's smile returned. "First," she began, her voice light as if she were immensely enjoying herself, "did you even bother to check the gender of your missing guest?"

Elsa blinked. "Why does that even matter?"

"Because honestly it's quite offensive to just assume someone's gender."

"It was an animal," Elsa deadpanned. "It didn't seem too offended by the name Buddy; even though that wasn't its name and just a term of endearment that can really be gender neutral. Even then, I really just thought of it as an 'it.' I mean, it wasn't like I was planning on keeping it like a pet dog or something."

Anna frowned but leaned forward in her seat in a chair across from Elsa. "What were you planning on doing with _it_ , then?"

"I don't know!" Elsa snapped, the absurdity of the conversation and time frustrating her. "I was going to release it back to the wild or something after I was sure it was healed!" Glaring to Anna and seeing the cocky grin present, Elsa silently seethed. "And _why_ does any of this even matter?"

"Because maybe it wanted to stay! Maybe it only left because it had something to prove!" Anna fired right back. "Maybe she wants to stay as long as she's allowed!"

A tense moment of silent passed in which Elsa and Anna stared each other down. Blue focused on turquoise with such a familiar twinge of yellow it caused Elsa to shiver.

And suddenly she got it.

"' _She_?'" Elsa basically squeaked.

Anna nodded. "Finally beginning to catch on?"

"Y-You… _You're_ the wolf?"

In answer to her question, Elsa witnessed something that was so unbelievable to her it wouldn't even have happened in her dreams; yet here it was happening right in front of her anyway.

A light encased Anna for only a brief moment, yet when it died down, what was sitting in the chair before Elsa wasn't the cute little redhead, but a red wolf pup.

 _Her_ wolf pup.

"Believe in werewolves now?" Anna—no, the _wolf_ —asked.

Elsa promptly fainted.

XxXxX

When she came to, sun was streaking in through the windows, and a clatter sounded from her kitchen. Sitting upright, Elsa found herself not in her bed, but on the couch instead, covered with several blankets she kept in the ottoman for the chair.

"Oh good, you're up."

Looking towards the kitchen, Elsa watched as Anna— _human_ Anna—approached her. The redhead chuckled.

"You should see your face," she giggled. "Totally the cutest expression you've ever made."

Elsa fought off a blush as she forced herself to utter, "So… Last night wasn't just a crazy dream?"

Still smiling, Anna shook her head. "Nope," she replied lightly. "One hundred percent real. Want me to change into a wolf again to prove it?"

"No!" Elsa flinched from her outburst, immediately feeling bad when she saw Anna's expression fall. "I… I-I believe you."

"Good!" the redhead chirped, immediately lighting back up. "Want some breakfast then?" She retreated back to the kitchen, yet still said, "I'm sure you have questions, and this will all probably be easier to take in on a full stomach and an awake brain. I guess I should've waited until today to show up like this. I wasn't really thinking the time would make much difference, but then, I'm half wolf, so I love the night. Guess I still have a lot to learn about human ways, even though I am one of those too…"

By the time Anna had finished rambling, Elsa was being presented with—you guessed it—a bowl of Lucky Charms and a gigantic glass of apple juice. Elsa simply stared at her.

"What?" Anna asked, her smile fading and anxiety peaking. "I-I know this is overwhelming, but please, Elsa, try and understand… I… I really don't want this to change things between us!"

Elsa wanted to shout that _of course_ things were going to change between them because the girl Elsa had been in denial about crushing on was a freaking _werewolf_ which _didn't exist_!

And no, the fact that she had been witness to a transformation last night did nothing to change that train of thought.

Well, her mother said she had always been a stubborn little girl; obviously that wasn't going to change with age.

"Elsa…?"

The hesitant voice brought her back and Elsa found Anna sitting next to her on the couch, eyes shimmering intensely as she studied the blonde.

Elsa found it incredibly hard to swallow before she finally glanced to the girl beside her, managing a smile as she finally took a bite of the now somewhat soggy cereal in her lap.

"I hope you realize how much you have to explain," she told her.

Anna nodded her head vigorously. "I know!" she exclaimed. "I have _a lot_ to tell you and, believe me, I'm ready to lay everything bare before you here and now, I swear!" Glancing at her lap briefly, she smiled meekly at Elsa. "If you'll listen, that is."

"I can't promise I'll understand half of it, but yeah, I'll listen." A full, true smile now graced Elsa's face.

Beaming, Anna leaned in quickly and hugged Elsa quickly before pulling away, her cheeks only slightly lighter than Elsa's red face before facing her cross-legged on the couch.

"So," she said with an energetic huff, "where do you want me to start?"

"Well, the beginning's always a good choice," Elsa retorted sarcastically, eliciting a giggle from Anna.

"There's the Elsa I've been living with," she joked. "Good to know I didn't scare that out of you."

"Honestly, you almost did," Elsa mumbled. Seeing Anna's smile flicker, she immediately go back on track. "But anyway, uh… Have you always been a…?"

"Werewolf?" Anna finished with a grin. "You _can_ say it, you know."

"I know!" Elsa cried. "But…can you blame me for not being able to do easily? I mean, werewolves were myths up until last night."

"Would it be easier to understand if I changed back?"

Elsa cringed. "No," she replied honestly. "I probably would take you even _less_ seriously."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Well, we don't want that. Human it is. And in answer to your first question, yes, I've always been a werewolf."

And that was the start to an afternoon Elsa would never forget. Apparently, everything Anna had ever hinted at earlier about werewolves was true. The kind depicted in movies and books were the mythological creatures everyone knew and loved; _real_ werewolves weren't as much a myth as they were simply a culture which was kept secret.

"So, why did you reveal yourself to me?" Elsa asked. "I mean, how do you know I won't go blab to the nearest person who would listen?"

Anna smiled. "I can sense your aura," she answered. "When you found me that first night, I was able to analyze every aspect about you that maybe you aren't even aware of yourself yet. I knew you weren't the kind of person who would try and exploit me or my kind; you simply wanted to help. You're kind, Elsa."

Elsa blushed. "Well, then why were you so far from… Where do werewolves live?" Blinking rapidly, more questions came to her. "Do you mostly live as humans or wolves? Are there other werewolves among us that we aren't aware of?"

The redhead chuckled. "Slow down, Elsa. I told you I'd explain everything, but each question might take a bit of time to explain."

Elsa just sat there staring at Anna, waiting patiently.

"Okay, I get it," Anna laughed once more. "I'm the one slowing things down. Where a pack lives depends on the pack itself and its preferences. Me, I'm from the mountain range a good day or so away from this town. How often a werewolf spends in each form also depends on the pack. The alpha in my pack demands we all live as wolves in order to stay hidden safe, but I'll get to that later. Usually though, to answer your last question, werewolves won't stay blended in to human culture for too long. Despite being able to take a human form, there is much we don't know about human culture, so fitting in can be difficult."

"Guess that explains why you were so unsure of everything I asked you," Elsa quipped with a grin.

Anna's cheeks darkened. "Yeah," she muttered. "I'm sorry about that, Elsa. I may not be a full human, but even I know lying is bad. Especially to someone you consider a friend."

Elsa's smile warmed at being called Anna's friend.

And, surprisingly enough, it didn't feel weird being the friend of a werewolf. In that moment, Anna was just Anna; a cute redheaded girl who Elsa wanted to get to know so bad.

Even if it meant discovering and accepting her…eccentric lifestyle.

XxXxX

Something woke Elsa later that night. Wrinkling her nose slightly, she opened bleary eyes, expecting to be greeted with the neon blue lights of her clock.

Instead she was face to face with turquoise eyes.

"Ahh!" she cried, doing her best to move backwards in the bed on her side as she could.

"Sorry! I'm sorry!" Anna exclaimed, sitting up in the bed and reaching out to Elsa hesitantly.

"What are you doing?" Elsa asked in a harsh whisper, despite the fact that the apartment's only occupants were now wide awake. "I thought you were sleeping on the couch?"

"I was!" Anna chirped. "But then I got lonely, and I really enjoyed all the other times I got to sleep with you so I thought there'd be no harm in it since you were already sound asleep. I was going to get back up and go to the couch before your alarm went off, but then I think I sneezed and woke you up, and I'm sorry, but you just have the most adorable expression when you sleep."

Elsa blushed crimson and Anna gasped.

"I'm sorry! Is that weird?" Huffing, she looked anywhere but Elsa. "I sometimes don't know when I'm crossing the line as a human, because as a wolf, we're very forthcoming about our affection of others, but now I'm getting the vibe that humans aren't like that."

"Usually we're not," Elsa said. "Unless you're into that whole 'love at first sight' thing."

Anna's face brightened as she looked back at Elsa. "That sounds nice!"

"It's a load of crap," Elsa deadpanned.

The redhead's face dropped. Seeing her disheartened expression, Elsa sighed and rubbed her eyes, letting out a yawn in the process. It was still four-thirty in the morning; she needed more sleep before she could… _deal_ with the entirety of the situation she now found herself in.

"Look," she sighed, "you can stay here if you turn back into a wolf, okay? For some reason it's less awkward for me to share a bed with a wolf-girl than a _girl_ -girl."

"Okay!" Anna immediately reverted back to her animal form, now sitting at attention before Elsa. "Better?"

Elsa cringed. "Can you not talk in your wolf form?" Noticing Anna's confused—and slightly offended expression—she quickly added, "Just until I get used to this? It's…beyond weird to see a wolf talking to me."

Anna just nodded her head before Elsa rolled her eyes and settled back into bed, turning onto her side to face away from Anna.

This was some serious messed up shit she found herself in. Had Elsa known the pup she helped that night would bring all this with it, she probably would have just called Animal Services straight away.

But, if Elsa had run into human Anna first, the crush she had developed would definitely have still ignited within her. So the girl could change into a wolf on a whim; she could deal with that.

Clenching her eyes shut and groaning, Elsa huffed. Who was she kidding? This would take some serious getting used to.

A gentle whine sounded behind her as a soft head was pressed against her back briefly before lifting her arm up, Anna coming to rest her head on Elsa's side.

"I'm sorry, Elsa…"

Besides, current form be damned, that melodic voice belonged to the girl who had haunted her dreams lately; and the girl herself simply resided within. That didn't mean the girl no longer existed, nor that her animal side changed anything about her.

Despite everything both girl and pup were slowly inching their way towards Elsa's heart to claim it as their— _her_ —own.

Elsa fell back asleep with a smile on her face.


	5. Chapter V

**Ugh, another long wait and only this to show for it… I'm so sorry, guys. *** **cries***

 **In better news, I'm thinking only two chapters left. And they will be longer, I swear!**

* * *

 **Chapter V**

"So, do werewolves…age any differently than humans?"

Anna, in her human form, sitting next to Elsa on the kitchen counter, cocked her head in response to the blonde's question.

"What do you mean?"

Elsa blushed to which Anna only grinned, loving how nervous and shy the blonde got when inquiring about Anna's life. It was adorable, really.

"Like…humans grow older by one year, every year; but then, like, dogs age differently. They have 'dog years' which really equates to seven human years, so when we say a dog is two, it's really fourteen or something." Looking to Anna, Elsa smiled abashedly and asked, "Does that make sense?"

Anna chuckled. "It is a bit confusing, but I think I get the gist of it. In that case, werewolves age like humans. Our age is how many years we've been alive. I'm twenty."

"Twenty-one," Elsa stated in return.

Anna's smile grew even larger at Elsa's response. They really weren't that different after all.

"So," Elsa mumbled after a while, looking to their empty bowls of cereal next to them, "I didn't want to ask this straight away, but… Why were you injured when I found you? Where's your pack?"

Anna's face fell ever so slightly, and Elsa inwardly cursed herself for being the cause.

"I ran away from my pack," Anna answered softly. "I didn't get away unscathed, however."

Elsa's eyes hardened as anger swelled within her. "Your _family_ did this to you?"

Anna shrugged, looking away from Elsa. "It's common, actually. I'll admit it's not the greatest perk to being a werewolf, but…"

"What happened?"

Anna finally looked back to Elsa and sighed. "I've always wanted to be a human," she admitted. "Like a true, _real_ human. I said we're not a cursed culture, but sometimes I feel like I am. I just…the alpha in our pack—my _dad_ —hates humans, and never lets us transform unless absolutely necessary. But…I just feel so much better—freer—as a human. There's _so_ much you can do! I mean, look at human history and compare it to the history of an animal. Sure, we've evolved right alongside you all, but we haven't _achieved_ anything. We haven't accomplished anything."

"So your dad did this to you?" Elsa asked next, staring sympathetically at Anna's still-bandaged wrist as the redhead idly rubbed it.

Anna shook her head. "He ordered it, but he didn't do it directly. Alphas only get involved as a last resort. He sent my brothers after me when I ran away. They did this."

"That's horrible."

Anna shrugged, and Elsa was absolutely dumbfounded when she saw Anna smiling somewhat.

"I'm used to it."

"But you shouldn't have to be," Elsa told her. "Different culture or not, hurting your own family member shouldn't be allowed."

"But humans hurt loved ones as well," Anna piped up. "I read about that."

"Yeah, but you get in trouble for it," Elsa rebutted. "You can go to jail for it, actually. You don't get off scott-free as I'm starting to see is the case with werewolves."

Blushing redder than Elsa had ever seen, Anna almost seemed to shrink away from the blonde as she asked quietly, "You'd never hurt me, would you Elsa?"

Acting on pure instinct, Elsa took Anna's hand and clenched it tightly, her eyes burning intensely. "Never," she swore. "Besides," she quirked a smile, "aren't you supposed to be able to read my aura?"

Anna's blush never lightened as she mumbled back, "I'm not as great as that as I should be, actually." Seeing Elsa's confused expression, she giggled and continued. "I'm able to tell you're a kind person, Elsa, but…my father's aura also says that about him and you already know how much that can be untrue. So…"

"I get it," Elsa replied. "You're unsure; and you have good reason to be. But I swear, I would never hurt you intentionally in my life; and if I somehow ended up doing so, I would live with that guilt for the rest of my life."

"Why?" was the whispered question from the redhead.

Elsa blinked. "Why what?"

"Why are you able to promise that? I mean, I've basically thrust myself in to your life and made you have to adapt to this… _curveball_ of all curveballs, and you're okay with it? Why is it you, a complete stranger, are easier to read than my own father and brothers?"

"Well, my mother always did say I wore my heart on my sleeve when I was little," Elsa said. "Even though I tried not to as I got older, apparently I still do for certain people."

"What makes me special?" Anna asked out of pure wonder and innocence. There was no joking undertone, she was completely serious.

And that scared Elsa the most.

"You mean besides the obvious?" the blonde joked with a nervous chuckle. Anything to lighten the mood.

Getting an adorable chuckle from the girl before her, however, hardened her resolve to answer honestly.

"Yes, besides the obvious," Anna smiled back.

"You're unique, Anna," Elsa answered, moving to take the girl's hand once more as she had apparently let it go somewhere in their conversation. "And I mean besides the wolf thing; it stretches deeper than that. When I first met you as a girl and had no idea you were the pup I was living with, I just… Something about you drew me in. You don't let anything get to you. I mean, I said some pretty crappy things about your lifestyle and what makes you _you_ , and you just rolled with it."

"Well, aren't friends supposed to forgive friends easily?"

"Not when they insult you!"

Anna just shook her head and stared at Elsa, determined to get her message across. "You had no idea at the time, Elsa; it'd hardly be fair if I held your words against you."

"S-See?" Elsa stuttered, quickly becoming uncomfortable with the direction this conversation was heading. "Everything just soars right above you."

"What's the human saying about this and a duck?" Anna inquired with a giggle as she rested her head on Elsa's shoulder, their hands still linked firmly together.

Elsa chuckled. "I know what you're talking about, but I have no idea. Something about letting your problems slide off you like water off a duck or something?"

"Then I'd happily be a duck for you any day, Elsa."

A few minutes passed in which Anna nuzzled Elsa's shoulder as a deep rumble echoed in her throat and the blonde sat completely paralyzed. She knew Anna was showing more affection in the only way she was certain of and that scared her.

Of course, a small part of her which was quickly fighting to take over was simply ecstatic her little crush seemed to be mutual.

"Anna?" she asked after a minute, not wanting to stop the girl from whatever she was doing, but also wanting to hopefully steer the conversation in a different direction.

"Hmmm?" The girl hummed, her head stilling on Elsa's shoulder, but not moving any further.

"Is there a way…that a werewolf could become a human?" she asked carefully. "Like…a _human_ human?"

Finally lifting her head, Elsa knew she wasn't making any process in taking the conversation elsewhere when she noted the blush on the redhead's face was back in full.

"Well, I have heard of one way," she answered, "but it's only legend according to my pack—which probably means nothing, coming from them."

"What is it?" Elsa asked, honestly intrigued, even though a sinking part of her knew where this may be headed.

Still not meeting Elsa's eyes, Anna answered. "True love, in a sense."

But, true love didn't exist, right? Elsa wanted to say—wanted to _believe_. Because if such a thing did actually exist, Elsa felt she'd stop at nothing to help Anna fulfill her one life's desire. Because this girl deserved it, and so much more.

"Wh-What do you mean?" Elsa was almost afraid to ask.

"Like, I've only heard stories, a-and they didn't even directly apply to werewolves, so it may not even work, b-but…" Trailing off, Anna managed to look back up at Elsa, and the blonde could tell Anna was hesitant to carry on, wondering if Elsa would ridicule another aspect of her kind.

Elsa swallowed, and found her throat had become incredibly dry.

"Wh-Whatever it is, A-Anna, we'll find a way to make it work, I-I'm sure."

Beaming, the redhead spurred to continue. "There was this legend of a mermaid; she was like me, in the sense that she always dreamed to be human. Then, she…met someone," a brief glance to Elsa caused both girls' cheeks to erupt in red, "and…and it changed everything. The mermaid was stolen from her cove for experiments, threatened right in front of her new friend, and then when the friend came to rescue her…they…t-they kissed, and suddenly the mermaid was human."

"But what does true love have to do with it?" Elsa questioned flatly, not wanting to be mean, but also not wanting to accept the other option—that she theoretically could come to obtain the power to change Anna in to a human.

Anna stared at her incredulously, but Elsa didn't miss the waver in her expression as it fell again ever so slightly. "Because the story can't mean I just go around kissing random people to see which one turns me human! If any!"

"S-So you think I…?"

Anna shook her head quickly and curled up into Elsa's side. "I don't know, Elsa," she whimpered. "And I'm…not asking anything of you; I never would or could. But…that's the story, and ever since I first heard it as a young pup, I've always dreamed it would work."

And as the two remained cuddled up on the kitchen counter, Elsa hugged the small girl to her and whispered to her the only thing she could at the time.

"We'll figure something out, Anna."

* * *

 **Also, shoutout to ATHPluver with that 'Shore' reference there! ;) I just love that fic and thought it applied to this story perfectly.**


	6. Chapter VI

**Chapter VI**

"Anna, that's for _children_!" Elsa's exasperated cry followed the redhead as the younger girl darted away from Elsa with an excited squeal.

"C'mon, Elsa, it looks like fun!" Anna returned, calling over her shoulder. "One more and then we'll go on the big ones, okay?"

Letting out a sigh, Elsa shook her head—though a smile graced her face as well—and followed after her. After their talk that morning, Elsa knew for certain that Anna wouldn't be leaving her side anytime—not that she necessarily wanted her to anymore—and so she took the initiative to show the girl some of the "wonders" of the human world. That's why they were now at Arendelle's amusement park.

Or, at least, the little kids' area of the park.

"It's her first time at a park," Elsa had probably told the parents of ten different kids after receiving strange looks while waiting in line for rides like the merry-go-round and the swings, or the haunted house where the only "haunting" was done in a brightly lit room by a little ghost who looked too adorable to be called a ghost. "We're working our way up to the big stuff."

Being surrounded by five year-olds didn't seem to bother Anna in the slightest—though Elsa probably should have realized that was never going to be an issue—and she just cheered and hollered right along with the rest of them. Elsa, meanwhile, tried to appear complacent at each stop, but always ended up joining in the redhead's cheer by the end.

Damn girl was contagious.

"Besides, look," Anna pointed out in the current line they were standing in, "this ride has the tallest height minimum we've been on!"

"I hope you know normal humans surpass 48 inches by the time they're seven," Elsa mumbled.

Anna simply pouted as she spun to face Elsa. "Well excuse me for appreciating the smaller things in life. You're not having fun?"

Elsa laughed. "Oh, no; I'm getting a kick from all the reactions we've received riding these things. I'm pretty sure one lady thought you were certifiable with how much fun you were having on the train."

"Hey, _I_ thought it was fun!"

"It didn't go faster than ten miles an hour…"

"Well, _excuse_ me!"

"Look," Elsa said, "you think you're having fun now, just wait until you ride your first coaster." At the look Anna gave her, the blonde quickly added, "And that _Caterpillar_ coaster doesn't count. That thing was lame."

Pouting, Anna turned away from Elsa and grumbled, "Debbie Downer."

Elsa simply rolled her eyes. For only half human, Anna sure was picking up euphemisms pretty quick. Of course, they were most always aimed at Elsa, but she didn't let that bother her.

After all, teasing the redhead had fast become one of Elsa's favorite things to do.

Because any girl that looked like a sad puppy when they pouted was absolutely adorable.

Elsa had to admit she was actually a fan of the scrambled eggs ride, but she was still relieved when it turned out to be the last ride in the kids' area that hadn't been visited by the two adults. Perking up immediately after exiting said ride, Elsa grabbed Anna's hand and dragged her to the "real" rides before she could get a word in edgewise.

" _Now_ the real fun begins," Elsa exclaimed as she gestured behind her to a large wooden coaster.

On cue, a train went rocketing by and the immediate surrounding area was filled with the screams and hollers of its riders.

Elsa burst out laughing when Anna paled.

"They were screaming," the redhead pointed out.

"And _you_ were screaming with the kids for the past hour."

"But that was, like, _real_ screaming."

Elsa shook her head and, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulder, guided her into the queue for the coaster. "Just trust me," she said.

Of course, Anna trusted Elsa immensely, but it still did nothing to quell the unease rising steadily within her as they slowly moved through the line and closer to the coaster.

"Just be glad I'm starting you out on this one," Elsa spoke, halfway up. "All the other coaster are metal ones and they go faster, and some even upside-down."

"But there's other stuff here besides coasters, right?" Anna asked, chuckling hesitantly as another train went by with more shouts following.

"Oh yeah," Elsa replied. "But they're still pretty intense. Except the ferris wheel, of course."

"Then can we do that one next?"

"Anna, you don't even know for sure you'll hate this," Elsa told her with another chuckle. "Just give it a chance."

For the record, Elsa had been certain from the get-go that Anna would love the roller coasters. Needless to say then, once the wooden coaster came back to the station with the girls sitting in its very front seat, Anna refused to get off.

"That was _awesome_!" she cried, bouncing up and down in her seat. "Can we ride it again?"

Elsa chuckled as she practically had to pull Anna from her seat to let the next people in line ride.

"One, I told you so; two, we have to get back in line if you want to ride again; and three, _I told you so_!"

"Okay, okay, you told me so, Miss Know-It-All," Anna harrumphed with a laugh. "Now are you going to spend the rest of the day teasing me, or are we gonna ride some more of these roller coaster thingies?"

Elsa grinned, slinging her arm back over the redhead's shoulder. "Why can't I do both?"

"You're impossible!" Anna giggled, ducking out from Elsa's shoulder.

"Only to people I've told so."

" _Stop_ that!" Another laugh.

The rest of the day passed by in similar fashion.

Eventually, however, despite how much fun Anna insisted she was having, Elsa knew it was time to take a temporary break after watching Anna retch painfully in a trash bin after their last coaster of choice—aptly nicknamed _The Regurgitator_ by many patrons.

"Ugh," the redhead coughed. "Okay, time for something more mundane?"

"Even better idea," Elsa spoke up, rubbing Anna's back with a sympathetic smile, "how about we get something to eat!"

"Okay!" Anna exclaimed, brightening immediately.

Elsa couldn't hold in her laugh as she found herself now the one being dragged off by the younger. "I forget how you get when someone mentions food."

"You also seem to forget that I'm _part wolf_ ," Anna replied with a wink.

"Well, I'm afraid to say amusement parks don't sell any Lucky Charms, but I think they have something just as good," Elsa said, directing Anna towards a stand-alone cart. "I can't promise it's as good as… uh, whatever werewolves eat, but it's your ideal park- and festival-type food."

"What do you _think_ we eat?" Anna asked with somewhat of a smug look.

Elsa chuckled uncomfortably before answering, "Like, deer? Anything smaller than you?"

The redhead shrugged. "Basically."

"What did you _think_ I was going to say?" Elsa questioned with a grin. "Vampires?"

Anna laughed. "I don't know! With all the stuff the media feeds you all, I wouldn't be surprised."

Elsa rolled her eyes. "Okay, I can see that, but no; I, unlike much of my society, am _logical_."

"You sure about that?" Anna quipped, nudging the blonde in the side.

"I don't know," Elsa replied, another grin forming, "I am the one talking to a werewolf right now, so…"

"Ouch, Els, that hurt."

" _Anyway_ ," Elsa huffed playfully, having made their way to the front of the line and ordering two 'corn dogs' before turning back to Anna, "here."

Handing said girl the food item, Anna looked at it quizzically.

"What is it?" she asked, turning the stick over and shaking it.

Elsa couldn't help but crack up. "Well don't _try_ and make it fall off! It's called a corn dog. They're…not the healthiest food in the world, but pretty good, actually."

"It's a dog?!" Anna all but shouted, now staring at it as though it had personally harmed her.

"No!" Elsa cried, still struggling to keep from laughing at the girl's naiveté. "It's just called that! It's basically meat."

"Basically?"

"Just…leave it at that."

Still closely scrutinizing the corn dog in her hand, Anna glanced back to Elsa. "Human food is bizarre."

Elsa grinned once more. "Just wait until you try cotton candy."

"Isn't cotton…not supposed to be eaten?"

Elsa shook her head. "You'll see," she mumbled. "Just eat that first; before it gets cold."

Also needless to say, Anna quickly became addicted to more human food than just cereal. After finally tasting the corn dog, Elsa caught to brief glimmer of yellow that flashed in her eyes before the thing was devoured in one single bite almost. She assumed that…technique…had to be the wolf side of her. Surely a mere human couldn't down food so quickly.

After the corn dog, Anna asked to try more foods, and several short minutes later, Elsa's wallet was nearly depleted as the girls sat on a bench with their arms full of food. Elsa ate a bit, but she was mostly too busy watching Anna's excitement every time she tried something new. The redhead claimed the corn dog had been good, but the hamburger was better, the three slices of pizza even better than that, as well as the large soft pretzels the two ended up splitting. After downing three refills of Coke, Elsa reached for the next delicacy between them.

"This is cotton candy," she explained, loving the cute looking the redhead was donning as she coked her head to the side and studied it. "No, it's not made from cotton despite its name, just like corn dogs and hot dogs aren't made from dogs, and hamburgers aren't made from ham."

"Then what is it?" Anna asked curiously, tearing off a piece of the sweet treat and watching it begin to melt against her fingertips.

"Sugar," Elsa replied simply. "Flavored sugar. The pink is bubblegum and the blue is…well, what plain cotton candy tastes like."

"Your foods are so confusing," Anna mumbled, now in the process of watching her fingers sticking together and coated in pink.

"It's always an adventure."

After sampling each flavor, Anna picked the blue, leaving Elsa with the pink. The redhead thought it absolutely mystifying that the substance melted on your tongue and kept asking Elsa why it did so, despite the blonde having answered three times in a row that she wasn't even quite sure herself.

After the cotton candy was funnel cake, and Elsa was certain she had never eaten so much junk food in her entire life. She prided herself on being a semi-healthy eater—'cause hey, sometimes binging on pizza just couldn't be helped—but she was beginning to get the feeling that with Anna around, that might soon change.

Surprisingly enough, Anna didn't much care for the funnel cake. Despite having just eaten an entire stick of cotton candy—plus one corn dog, a hamburger, three slices of pizza, and half a pretzel; seriously, Elsa thought, werewolves must have an _amazing_ metabolism—she claimed the funnel cake was just too sweet.

"Anything else for me to try?" Anna asked eagerly after finishing their fourth Coke. "Your foods are really amazing—minus the funnel cake—and I want to try something else!"

"Well," Elsa thought for a moment, "the only other thing I can think of here is ice cream."

"And let me guess, it's not made from ice nor cream?"

Elsa sniggered. "Actually, it does involve cream; the ice is there because it's cold."

Deciding to start Anna off with legitimate ice cream, the two walked into a Ben & Jerry's rather than stopping at one of several Dippin' Dot carts throughout the park.

"So, there are _flavors_?" Anna balked, looking into the cases like she was about to make her life's greatest decision. "Could you all make things any more complicated?"

"Just…" Elsa sighed, "Pick which one looks the most interesting."

"What if I don't like it?"

"Then ask for a sample."

"Can I sample all of them?"

"…No."

More than ten minutes later, Elsa and Anna finally left the ice cream shop with cones of their own; Elsa's mint chip, and Anna's chocolate—although she had to sample cookie dough, cookies and cream, coffee, and rocky road as well before Elsa cut her off.

"This is _so_ good, Elsa," Anna practically moaned. "Definitely beats everything else I've had today."

"Now you can raid my freezer full of ice cream instead of my cupboards full of cereal."

Anna gave the blonde a look before giggling and shoving her gently. Soon, the pair found another bench to finish their ice cream on. Sitting down, Anna hummed and rested her head back against Elsa's shoulder, both girls continuing to eat their frozen treats all the while.

"This has been an amazing day, Elsa," Anna whispered. "Thank you."

Blushing slightly, Elsa studied her ice cream more intently rather than looking to the girl next to her. "Well, I just wanted to show you more of my world, I guess. I mean, it's yours too, but…"

A soft giggle cut her off. "I know what you mean."

Lifting her head and blushing as well, Anna quickly leaned forward and kissed Elsa's cheek. The blonde immediately froze and Anna began to fret.

"Was that…not right?" she asked. "I know kisses are meant to show affection, but maybe I read that wrong. I'm so sorry, Elsa, I didn't mean to if that's the case!"

Elsa stiffly shook her head before forcing herself from her trance. Looking back at Anna, she smiled, hoping to ease the girl's nerves.

"You did nothing wrong, Anna," she told her. "I just…don't really do well when shown affection."

"Why not? Don't all humans do it?"

Elsa sighed, finishing off the last of her cone. "It's complicated; I'll tell you later."

Deflating a bit, Anna mumbled, "Okay."

Seeing this, Elsa's heart sank a bit and, gathering all her courage, kissed the redhead back on the cheek.

Pulling the girl back to her feet and now smiling bashfully, Elsa whispered, "That doesn't mean I didn't like it, though."

Now Anna was the one frozen. "G-Good."

After riding a few more roller coasters for the second or third time, it was nearing sunset. Exiting the latest ride, Elsa took Anna's hand and started leading her towards the back of the park.

"Where are we going now?" Anna asked.

"The only ride we haven't ridden yet," Elsa told her. "The ferris wheel."

When they reached it, Anna came to a stop and simply looked upwards. "It's huge," she exhaled.

"Not all of them are this big," the older girl explained. "Arendelle's actually known for having the largest ferris wheel in the world. At the very top, you can see the fjord to the east of us and the mountain to the north. Plus…" she trailed off.

Anna looked to her when she stopped talking and saw the blonde looking at the ground while biting her lip.

"What?" she asked, taking a tentative step towards her.

"It's…kind of, um…romantic?" Now blushing a deep shade of red, Elsa glanced to Anna and then back at the ground. "I thought it'd be a nice wrap up to the day and, um…even nicer with the sun setting."

Grinning, Anna sidled up to Elsa's side. "So this whole day has been about wooing me, hm?"

"No!" Elsa exclaimed, voice cracking she leapt back. "I just…thought…"

Giggling, Anna placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I'm kidding, Elsa," she said. "It's a sweet gesture, and I'm flattered to ride with you."

Finally meeting the redhead's eyes again, Elsa smiled. "Should we get in line then?"

Anna's grin widened. "Definitely."

By the time they were beginning their ascent to the top, Anna had moved from her initial seat across from Elsa in the car, to cuddling up right next to her on her side. Pressing her face into the blonde's neck, the redhead released a pleased hum.

"This is so nice, Elsa."

"G-Glad you think so."

Looking up at Elsa—who had gone back to sitting stiffly as soon as Anna pressed against her—she saw the uncertainty and shyness in her eyes.

"You've never…been in a relationship before, have you?" Anna asked.

Tension releasing somewhat, Elsa sank down in the seat. "That obvious, huh?"

"Not…necessarily," Anna answered. "But I think I understand all this more than you may think. If your blushing and stuttering is for the same reason as mine, it's because you like it when I say and do nice things to you, and you get excited because it means all your actions and words have their desired effect. You want to impress me, and you don't want to screw anything up, right? And then, back with the kiss, you liked it because it was from me, but you've never experienced that kind of affection before from anyone, have you? So it startled you?"

"You can get all that from my aura?" Elsa questioned, slightly dumbfounded.

Anna shook her head and took Elsa's hand, lacing their fingers together before bringing their linked hands up between them.

"It's because I'm feeling exactly the same," she answered.

Blush igniting her face once more, Elsa glanced away. This time, it was Anna who rolled her eyes as she gently turned the blonde's face back to hers.

"You don't have to be so shy, Elsa," she murmured. "Though I find it absolutely adorable, I don't want you to be uncomfortable with any of this."

Head-butting Elsa's forehead lightly—what Elsa assumed was another show of affection among werewolves—Anna let their heads rest against each other.

"I meant it when I said I really like you, Elsa," she whispered.

"I-I really like you too, A-Anna."

They remained like that several moments longer, foreheads pressed together, Anna's hand on Elsa's cheek, and affection enshrouding them both, before Anna's eyes shot open and she pulled away.

"Wh-What is it?" Elsa asked, stuttering that time from pure confusion.

Anna didn't answer as she stood up in the car and moved back to her own seat, looking out the window at the scenery before them. By now, they were at the very top of the wheel and stopped for the current moment. When a bright light filled the car, Elsa had to look away before it died down and she saw Anna now in her wolf form.

"Anna?"

Elsa watched as the pup's ears twitched and moved, as if trying to catch on to some sound. She strained to listen as well, but couldn't hear anything but the machinery of the ride.

"Anna, what is it?"

Moving as well to the opposite side of the car next to Anna, Elsa looked out as well. Seeing Anna staring intently in the direction of the North Mountain had an unsettling feeling rise in her stomach before she even recognized why.

"I heard howling," Anna muttered, eyes still trained intensely at the mountain's peak. "It's my pack. They're coming for me."

* * *

 **Next chapter's the last, folks!**


	7. Chapter VII

**Here it is, folks, the final chapter of Still of the Night! I may not be too pleased with this chapter (but then again, I hate all the endings I write) so I'll let you all be the judges of that. Thanks so much for all the reviews, favs and follows, and be sure to keep tuned in for Sucker Punch! ;)**

 **Also, this chapter hasn't been checked for spelling and grammar as I posted it right before having to go to bed (early work day in the morning, ugh) so please be kind and give me 24 hours to go back and fix any mistakes. :)**

 **Now…enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter VII**

Anna wasted no time between them getting off the ferris wheel and quickly departing from the park. Saying nothing more than an urgent "come on," she had grabbed Elsa's wrist before pulling her towards the exit of the amusement park. After changing back to her human form, of course.

"Anna, are you sure it's them?" Elsa couldn't help asking as she was doing her best to follow the redhead, garnering as many weird looks as she had received earlier with Anna on the kids' rides. "I didn't hear anything."

"Werewolves have three times the hearing the average human does; I'd be shocked if you _had_ heard it."

"It couldn't have been a normal wolf?" Elsa asked next. "You're sure it was your pack?"

"It was them," Anna said grimly. "You wouldn't understand, Elsa, but you have to trust me."

"I do, Anna," the blonde said with conviction, grasping the hand leading her with her own and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Anna looked back over her shoulder at her and smiled. Or rather, she tried to, though Elsa could tell it was strained as her eyes remained clouded with worry.

"You don't think they'd try anything in public, do you?" Elsa couldn't refrain from asking next.

"I wouldn't put it past one of my brothers, Hans, honestly," Anna answered in a bitter mumble.

"Should we return to my place then?"

Anna shook her head. "I don't know what's going to happen, Elsa, but I don't think a confined space would be the best to handle this in. Are there any open fields or abandoned lots or buildings around here?"

"You really think that's necessary?" Elsa balked.

" _I don't know_!" the redhead snapped, immediately apologizing afterwards. "I just know my brother and father are going to be mad, and I don't know how many others in the pack they dragged into this."

Squeezing Anna's hand once more, Elsa tried to calm her. "Okay," she whispered. "It'll be okay, Anna. I'm not going to leave you to deal with them by yourself."

Anna stopped running at this and spun to face Elsa, her eyes wide with fear, yet shimmering with gratitude and affection underneath.

"No, Elsa," she started, "you need to go home. I don't want to see them try and hurt you."

Elsa let out a dry chuckle. "Anna, don't be silly; I'm not leaving you."

"But what if they hurt you?!" Anna cried, tears welling in her eyes. "I couldn't take that! These aren't just people, Elsa, they're _werewolves_! They could really hurt you!"

"Damn it, Anna, I'm still not leaving!"

"Please!"

"No!"

"Awww, isn't this sweet?" a new voice cut in with a croon.

Elsa noticed a flash of fear ignite in the redhead's eyes before she spun around to face their new guest. Recognition dawned across Anna's face as she spread her feet to hold her stance, throwing an arm out in front of Elsa, and emitting a purely animalistic growl from deep within her throat.

"Hans…" she uttered.

"I brought company," the dark auburn wolf, Hans, sneered before, sure enough, several more wolves emerged from various angles until Elsa and Anna were surrounded.

Anna let loose another growl, still in her human form as she slowly turned to take in what had to be at least half her pack. Elsa counted ten wolves in total. Despite her best attempts to keep calm and maintain a strong front, she couldn't fight the nerves that began to rise upon seeing so many wolves surrounding them, many looking displeased, if not donning uneasy snarls.

"Why couldn't you just leave me alone?" Anna asked, addressing Hans mostly. "Was what you did when I ran away not enough?"

"Anna, you should know the penalty for deserting your pack—your _blood_ —for such trivial things as this abhorrent thing we call humanity goes deeper than a few scratches."

"They weren't 'scratches!'" Elsa shouted before she could stop herself.

"Elsa…" Anna whispered in a warning tone as the blonde made to take a step forward, only stopping when Anna's arm kept her from advancing more so.

"She was _hurt_ ," Elsa continued, growling in her own way. "She was bleeding and had a sprained wrist, paw, whatever, all from her _family_?"

Hans merely sneered in her direction—or as much as a wolf could sneer, that is—choosing to ignore any of Elsa's words.

"And I see you found yourself a pet while you were gone," he sniggered.

"She's not a _pet_ ," Anna mumbled, venom lacing her words. "She's a _friend_."

"Same thing," Hans grumbled, going as far as to roll his eyes, something which for some reason unnerved Elsa even more than watching a wolf talk. "Now, are you going to come back with us willingly, or are we going to do this the hard way?"

In answer, Anna simply stood her ground, a low rumble now coming from her as her hand clenched around Elsa's arm. Elsa, even though she couldn't see Anna's face from where she stood behind her, could basically see the glower she was shooting Hans.

"The hard way, I see," Hans said with a grin. "I was hoping for this."

He looked ready to pounce before another shout sounded.

"Hans, wait!"

Growling, Hans looked over his shoulder as a new wolf walked up beside him, this one blond and bulky.

"K-Kristoff?" Anna gaped, sounding surprised the blond had come after her.

"Hey, Red," he greeted, shooting his best attempt at a smile. "I don't want to see it come to another fight, that's why I tagged along, but if you don't come with us, I'm afraid I can't stop what you know will happen. Dad's livid."

"I don't see why this is such a big deal!" Anna exclaimed exasperatedly. "I'm full grown, why can't I do what I want with my life?"

"Because when what you want to do something as foolish as join the humans, we have to put a stop to it!" Hans barked.

"Hans, come on," Kristoff piped up. Walking closer to Anna, he sighed. "Anna, do you know why we have such a…strained relationship with the human race?"

Anna's stance slackened. "N-No…"

"Because one of these monsters like the one you're protecting killed our mother!" Hans hollered with a bite before Kristoff could speak again.

Anna's arm dropped from in front of Elsa as she exhaled a small, "N-No."

Elsa made to step up next to her, but Anna hardened her resolve once more before she could do anything, her glower even fiercer than before.

"You're lying," the redhead stated, though her voice wavered underneath. "Mom died during a hunt. Sh-She was trampled by buffalo; Papa told me himself."

"Anna, you were barely able to open your eyes when mom died," Kristoff explained in a much softer tone than Hans, who was now pacing impatiently behind the blond wolf, obviously wanting more action. "You were too young to know the truth, nor would you have even understood had we told you."

"But you all were pups too!" she cried it retaliation.

"Dad did it to protect your 'innocence,'" Hans drawled, and if he had been in his human form, Elsa knew he would have put air quotes with the word innocence from how disgustingly he said it. "Ever since birth you were enthralled with humans. He thought after a while you'd grow out of it and come to hate them like the rest of us did, but you never did."

"When you ran off, Dad knew then he should have told you earlier," Kristoff finished, still in a softer tone than Hans could possibly ever achieve.

From where Elsa was standing, Anna appeared to have shut down entirely. Her hands were clenched into fists at her side, and she was staring at the ground with no movement, no words.

"Anna?" Elsa asked hesitantly, moving to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you _dare_ touch my sister, you animal!" Hans shouted, leaping into action faster than Elsa could blink.

She shut her eyes and waited for impact, but it never came. Chancing opening them, she saw Anna standing before her again, now in her wolf form, blocking Hans from touching her. Hans growled threateningly once more.

"Move, Anna," he said. "I couldn't do anything about the human that killed mom, but I can do something about _her_."

"As long as I'm breathing you'll do no such thing," Anna ground back, her ears back, tail erect, and hair standing on end all down her back.

Her words made Elsa's world come to a stop momentarily, having never felt such devotion from anyone ever. Yet, here was Anna ready to fight her own brother for _her_.

"Why are you protecting her?" Hans questioned. "She killed our mother!"

"She had nothing to do with it!" Anna fired back. "You can't blame an entire race for the fault of one!"

"Our mother is _dead_ because of them!" Hans yelled. "Why isn't that registering with you?"

"Maybe because I know the cruelty of life better than you! Why do you think mom was killed?" Not waiting for an answer, Anna continued. "Most likely because she had done something to either harm that human or one of its loved ones, or frighten it! Humans don't even know we exist; not really! As hurt as I am knowing why and how mom died, it doesn't make me hate all of humanity! What about all the buffalo, deer, other wolves we kill? They probably hate us because we kill their family! As much as I didn't wish it, that's the way things are! I'm not going to hate humans just because you hold a grudge!"

Hans bared his teeth before looking to Kristoff. "You deal with _her_ ," he spat, inclining his head to Elsa, "I got our traitorous sister."

"Wait-!" Elsa tried to get out before she was taken to the ground by the big blond wolf.

"Elsa!" Anna cried, turning to face her and her brother, before she too was tackled by Hans.

Elsa closed her eyes and braced herself for some kind of pain, but when none came for the second time, she chanced opening them once more. Kristoff stood above her, one paw pressing down on her back to keep her from moving.

"I'm sorry it came to this," he told her, truly sound apologetic. "I can't stop this, however. Hans is the eldest, and without our father around, we all have to obey him."

"But he's hurting Anna!" Elsa exclaimed, watching in horror as Hand had Anna pinned to the ground on her back as another wolf from her pack leapt on top of her as well, the others not close behind. "They're going to kill her!"

"I don't expect you to understand our customs, and I don't expect you to like them even more," he said, "but this is the way werewolves work. In our eyes, Anna has betrayed us by trying to leave our pack—leave who she truly is. If she can defeat Hans, she will be allowed to make her own choice. If not…"

"Then she's going to die…" Elsa finished with a sob.

Elsa covered her mouth to quiet a cry as she watched Anna try and fend off her pack. Hans had her neck in his mouth, another wolf was literally on Anna's back completely, and another had hold of her tail. Anna would let out whines occasionally but was holding strong despite everything. Still, Elsa knew she could only take a bit more.

"Get off me, I have to help her!" she shouted, trying to reach Kristoff's ear to tug.

Kristoff merely applied more pressure to her back and Elsa let out a yelp of pain. That cost Anna, as the red wolf looked over at her cry.

"Kristoff, leave her out of this, damn it!"

"I can't, Anna, and you know that," he said with a shake of his head. "If you truly want to stay with her, you know what needs to be done."

Anna looked ready to say something else before Hans had her by the throat again and she yelped in a pain of her own.

"Anna!" Elsa screamed, paling at the blood now running down the wolf's throat.

Right as Elsa was about to try pushing Kristoff off again, a new, deep, authoritative voice cut through the midst.

"That's enough, Hans."

Instantly, Hans got off Anna as well as the rest of her pack, leaving a severely wounded Anna lying in a heap on the ground. Kristoff as well let go of Elsa and the blonde wasted no time in running to her wolf pup.

"Anna," she whispered, pulling the pup's head into her lap. "C-Can you hear me?"

Whining, Anna managed to nod her head, though doing much else was painful. Stroking her head, Elsa looked up as a shadow cast over the pair of them and she was met with dark yellow eyes.

"W-Who are you?" she asked, her hold on Anna tightening even more at the threatening black wolf before her. "Please don't hurt her anymore."

The wolf said nothing and merely looked down at the wounded wolf in her lap. Ever so slowly, Anna's eyes opened as they trained on their newest guest.

"P-Papa…?"

Elsa gasped and looked back to the black wolf. This was Anna's father? He came after all? She realized then that Kristoff, Hans, and the rest of the pack had retreated completely, now sitting at attention in silence at their leader's presence.

Anna's father sighed heavily as he took in his daughter's state. "Anna, look what you caused."

Struggling to pull herself from Elsa's lap, Anna made to face her father. "I didn't…a-ask for any of this!"

"You knew what running away meant, did you not?"

"But _why_ does it have to mean anything?" she asked in a pleading tone. "Why can't I just do as I please?"

"Your brothers told you what happened to your mother?" It may have ended with a question, but even Elsa could tell her father meant it more as a statement.

"Y-Yes, father, but it doesn't change anything to me!" she cried. "It doesn't mean I'm not still lost and distraught from mom's death, but it doesn't mean I'm going to hate humans like you all expect me to!"

"And why is that?" her father asked.

"B-Because humanity isn't all about killing! They do it to survive, just like us!" Anna had now made it back to her feet—the four of them—but was being held steady by Elsa as she continued to address her father. "Were you around when mom was killed?"

"I was not."

"Then how do you know she was killed in cold blood?" Anna questioned. "For all any of us know, she was killed in defense! I can't blame an entire race because they were protecting themselves! That's all any of us, wolf or human alike, know how to do! We protect ourselves by killing others. We kill to survive; they kill to survive. We're not any different than they are."

"You learned all this on your trip?" her father asked next, not sounding interested, but rather like he was assessing every word that came from Anna.

Anna shook her head as best she could in her state. "I knew all that before," she answered, "I just didn't know how readily it applied. Even if I had known about mother before I ran off, I still would have. You wouldn't understand, papa, but I need to be a human. I'm not a werewolf, not really deep inside. From the day I was born I knew I was different. I always wanted to stay in my human form, I wanted to learn all I could about them, and as I did, I realized what magnificent creatures they are.

"But you wouldn't let me chase after my dreams. You told me to stop learning about them, to stop asking questions, and then you lied about mother's death to 'save my innocence?' I don't get it, papa."

Flattening her ears to her head once more, Anna looked over her shoulder at Elsa, still on the ground behind her, her eyes wavering with unconditional affection again.

"I can't believe humans are all that bad after meeting Elsa," she said, causing Elsa to quirk a smile. "She's shown me so much kindness that I know without a doubt that mother's death wasn't anything more than natural selection. We both kill to survive," she restated. "Sure, some humans kill for other reasons like greed, revenge and more, but we do that too." She shot a look to Hans at that. "Think what you want, but we're just like them, papa. Hell, we _are_ human."

"You would not be content, then, to come back if I allowed you to turn to a human whenever you please?"

Anna shook her head again. "I know you'd only be letting me out of pity, and I don't want that, papa. Even with your consent, I'd still be driving a wedge between us and I can't do that. That's why," she paused, as she made sure she looked her father in her eyes and finished, "I need to be severed from the pack completely. I need to leave my werewolf ties behind."

If wolves had eyebrows, Elsa could imagine her father's rising as he sighed, "And how do you plan on doing that?"

Changing back into her human form, Anna whispered, "By following my heart."

With that, she turned to face Elsa, beamed, and then crashed her lips to hers. Elsa fell backwards slightly from the force and out of surprise, but quickly caught herself and let her arms come to settle around Anna's waist. This wasn't how Elsa had imagined their first kiss to go; both of them on the ground, Anna hurt, and her entire family watching them, but she couldn't deny it still wasn't perfect.

Her eyes slid shut out of bliss as she kissed Anna back feverishly, so she was unaware to the blinding light that engulfed Anna's form as the kiss went on. When the light faded, Anna looked no different, but then she slumped to the ground, effectively breaking the kiss.

"Anna?" Elsa looked down at the girl in her lap and worry immediately began to rise within her upon noticing Anna's sickly pallor. She hadn't looked like that before they kissed. "What happened?"

"If I had to guess…" Anna mumbled, her voice weak and quiet, "I'd say the myth worked. True love…turned me into a human."

"Then why do you look like you're d-dying?" Elsa whimpered, cradling the now-gasping redhead closer to her.

"If I had to guess," Anna's father cut in, mimicking his daughter's words, "I would say because she no longer has the extra strength of a wolf. Even in our human form, we possess exponential strength. Now, robbed of that, Anna is left with the stamina of any ordinary human, and therefore her wounds are more substantial."

"I need to get her to a hospital then!" Elsa cried, quickly making to stand, bringing Anna up with her in her arms.

"We will let you go," her father said. "Anna," he grunted.

The redhead in Elsa's arms blearily looked to her father and Elsa could have sworn she saw a grin flash across the wolf's face.

"You may not have thought so, but you always did have the courage and heart of a werewolf inside you," he said. "You proved so just now with your sacrifice."

Anna smiled. "Thanks, papa."

Then, without warning, she fainted and fell slack in Elsa's arms.

"Anna?!"

"She will be fine," her father addressed Elsa. "She's always been stronger than any of us have thought; she will come out of this. After all," Elsa thought she saw a smirk again, "she now has something to live for after so many years."

A smile of her own flickered across Elsa's face at Anna's father's words, gazing down at the girl she held.

"Do you love her?"

Looking the wolf in his eyes and no longer having any reason to fear, Elsa nodded resolutely.

"I do."

Anna's father nodded before looking down at his daughter once more. "She is in your hands now," he told her. "I have no doubt you both will live happily. After all, it was your love that turned myth into truth, and that isn't to be taken lightly."

Fixing her with a hard stare, yet with a softness shimmering just underneath, he uttered one last thing: "Take care of her for me."

Elsa's grip only increased as she uttered back, "I will."

Then, with a final nod, he turned away. Without a word, his pack turned to follow him, leaving Elsa and Anna alone. Kristoff lingered behind, nodding at Elsa as he departed as well.

Once they were truly alone, all Elsa wanted to do was collapse to the ground in relief and exhaustion, but the fainted girl in her arms kept her going.

"You'll be okay, Anna," Elsa whispered as she took off back in the direction of the amusement park to get to her car. "I promise."

XxXxX

When Anna came to, Elsa was the first thing she saw. The blonde had been sitting beside her bed the entire time, only leaving her side when the nurses forcefully shooed her out.

"Hey," Anna whispered, her throat dry.

"Hey," Elsa echoed, handing her a cup of water.

Taking the cup greedily, Anna downed the whole thing before laying back in her bed. Smiling, she reached for Elsa's hand.

"I was afraid that…that was all a dream," she said.

Elsa chuckled. "It was as real as could be, I'm afraid."

Anna let out a giggle of her own before looking up to Elsa with those captivating teal orbs of hers, although they no longer held their yellow glimmer.

"I love you, Elsa."

Elsa beamed and leaned down to kiss Anna's forehead. "I love you too."

Humming pleasantly, Anna bumped her forehead with Elsa's, causing the blonde to chuckle once more.

"What?" Anna asked, though she didn't draw back at all.

"Nothing," Elsa reassured. "Just," she opened her eyes to find Anna's staring right back, "if you're going to be a _real_ human from now on, we're going to have to teach you more human forms of affection."

Anna mirrored Elsa's coy smile as she whispered, "Oh really?"

Smile turning to a grin, Elsa nodded. "Really." Then, leaning in to press a searing kiss to the corner of the redhead's mouth, she purred, "And you just love learning about us humans so much, I'm certain you're going to enjoy every minute."

 _Fin_


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